Marcus Lattimore: Running Back, NFL Retiree, Role Model

Summer: Part 2 is coming, but I'm taking a break to talk about one of my role models.

     Marcus Lattimore was an incredible running back for the University of South Carolina. He tore his left ACL and MCL in October 2011, his sophomore year. Less than a year later, he had comeback from his injuries and was even better than before. Once again, injury hit. Barely a year after injuring his left knee, Marcus was hit during a game against the University of Tennessee, tearing three of the four ligaments in his right knee. He had surgery and declared for the NFL draft that December. The San Francisco 49ers drafted him, and he has been working and rehabbing to get back to the point of playing.


However, today Marcus Lattimore announced his retirementfrom the NFL. He never played a game.

     No two injuries are alike. No two rehab stories are alike. No two people are alike. Human emotions, however, are alike. Watching the video of his injury still brings me to tears. I felt his pain in my knee. I followed his recovery with hope, praying he’d get the chance to prove himself. As he announces his retirement, I hurt for him again, this time in my heart.

I can’t imagine what it is like to retire from the NFL, without ever playing.
I can’t imagine what it is like to see your dream become literally impossible to reach.
I can’t imagine what it is like to have to rethink your entire life and what defines you.
I can’t imagine looking into a future that has changed so drastically.

I know what it feels like to hurt, to be disappointed, to not understand.
I know what that soreness and weakness feels like.
I know what it feels like to be told you can’t do what you love, because it will only hurt you.
I know what it feels like to rehab and work so hard, and it does not pay off.
I know what it feels like to be completely helpless.


     Marcus Lattimore deserves our utmost respect. He has been through things the average twenty-three year old cannot even try to imagine. Yet, he comes out of it with one of the best attitudes I have ever seen. Marcus is planning on going back to USC to finish his degree. He has started a foundation to help youth around the nation. He is creating a new future for himself. Even without a NFL career, Marcus Lattimore is going to accomplish great things.

One day, I'd like the chance to speak to him and hear his story out of his own mouth.
Marcus Lattimore is one of my role models and heroes.
~Rachel

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