Professional athletes often show their commitment to a team with some symbolic act, whether it be a tattoo or even giving a child some name that connects to the franchise. The idea is pretty simple — a mere contract does not prove just how strong the bond is, so the player must go above and beyond to show how much he values his employer. On the other hand, no general manager or owner has gotten a tattoo of a star player as part of a reciprocal promise (as far as we know).

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Toronto Raptors forward Patrick Patterson has now set a very high bar for any player who wishes to display his affection for his team. Recent photos of Patterson's Toronto home show that the vet, set to enter his third season with the team, has a raptor skull on his coffee table:

Interior design service BoConcept has another look at the skull (via Raptors HQ):

I hope we can agree that a raptor skull would be a pretty awesome apartment centerpiece no matter the tenant's place of work, so Patterson's spot on the Raptors roster is really just an added bonus. (The prominent Raptors magazine with him on the cover only makes sense in his home, though.) Both Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio can attest to the value of a home dinosaur skull, and that broad popularity has to make you wonder why more professional athletes haven't shown off their own prehistoric bones (real fossils or otherwise) in pictorial spreads.

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It's also a fair bet that Patterson's skull has scored him points with head coach Dwane Casey, who in 2011 put a 1300-lb boulder in his office to literalize a metaphor that has served as the San Antonio Spurs' motto for many years. The Raptors clearly believe in the power of props in building team pride.

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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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