Steve R. Patterson
Steve R. Patterson is a writer, digital media pioneer, Army veteran, liver transplant survivor, and co-host of the Free Will Burning podcast.
A former U.S. Army Infantryman, Grateful Dead-era traveler, and founder of UGASports.com, Steve’s work spans decades of lived experience across music culture, early internet communities, storytelling, technology, health, and personal reinvention. A liver transplant survivor and former terminal cancer patient, he lives by a simple vow made during illness:
If I survive, I live differently.
Today, Steve focuses on long-form conversations, cultural analysis, health, adaptation, Gen X identity, technology, and rebuilding life in a rapidly changing world.
He has worked remotely since 1996.
Free Will Burning
Free Will Burning is a podcast and media project hosted by Steve Patterson and his brother, Troy Patterson.
The show explores survival, transformation, masculinity, health, culture, music, technology, freedom, reinvention, and the strange realities of modern life through the perspective of two Gen X brothers who both underwent liver transplants and rebuilt their lives from the ground up.
Topics range from heavy metal, classic rock, and road stories to AI, aging, identity, digital culture, health systems, and starting over after collapse.
The goal is simple: honest conversation without performance.
Watch on YouTube:
@SRPValkyrie
Digital Legacy: The UGASports Era
In 1997, Steve founded UGASports.com, one of the earliest large-scale online sports communities and a pioneer in fan-driven digital media.
From 1997–2014, UGASportsNetworks, LLC built and managed multiple online platforms across the SEC, helping shape the future of online sports communities years before social media became dominant. The flagship forum, The Dawgvent, became one of the internet’s earliest long-running social ecosystems.
The company was ultimately sold to Yahoo! in 2014.
Steve remains active in the community and is currently writing about the rise of early internet culture, online communities, and the UGASports era.
Publications
Earlier Career
- Founder & Publisher, UGASports.com (1997–2014)
- Publisher, Dawgs Illustrated Magazine
- Host, UGASports LIVE (2005–2014)
- Guest, RivalsRadio on Sirius Satellite
- U.S. Army Infantryman (1985–1988)
Current Focus
- Free Will Burning Podcast
- Gen X cultural commentary
- AI and technology analysis
- Writing and publishing
- Long-form storytelling
- Expat life and adaptation
- Music, memory, and digital culture