Darron Patterson was the first African American sportswriter at the Mobile Press Register, and is a three-time Alabama Press Association award winner for “Best Story of the Year.”

He later worked for The Detroit News, covering the National Football League’s Detroit Lions, Detroit Pistons of the NBA, Detroit Tigers baseball team and the Detroit Red Wings hockey club.

He was also the first African American to cover NASCAR and Indy Car racing circuits for a major daily newspaper, and later spent three years as Director of Communications for the City of Detroit’s Resource Management System.

The Africatown native also serves on the board of directors of the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame, is co-leader of the men’s ministry at Mt. Hebron Church Ministries, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, a graduate of the University of Texas-at El Paso and is president of the slave-ship Clotilda Descendants Association https://theclotildastory.com/ .

He is married to the former Sandy Grimes.