One of the biggest feel good stories of the draft: Marcus Lattimore has been drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round.
The road hasn’t been easy for the running back out of South Carolina. Lattimore exploded onto the scene in 2010, running for 1,197 and 17 toucdhowns. With such a stellar performance by the freshman, Lattimore had Columbia buzzing about his encore performance.
Yet his follow up season who end after just seven games. As a sophomore he rushed for 818 yards and 10 toucdowns before tearing his left ACL in a freak injury.
Unwilling to let the injury effect him, Lattimore trained endlessly to make it back for his junior season with the Gamecocks. A devastating injury for any running back, Lattimore made it back for the start of the 2012 season and proved he was still the running back every knew him as.
Only missing one start from the injury, Lattimore rushed for 662 yards and 11 touchdowns. With each game Lattimore began to look more and more comfortable with his knee and was continually regaining form, when another tragic injury occured.
In another gruesome, freak injury Lattimore tore his right ACL and PCL from one hit from a Tennessee defender. The hit left fans stomachs turning and murmers began as people discussed whether the hit was career ending.
Ever resilient, Lattimore declared to enter the NFL Draft even facing a long recovery from the injury. Something that could turn away some teams, Lattimore took on the challenge not risking another freak injury at the college level.
With the inspiration of Adrian Peterson’s remarkable return to the game after a similar injury, Lattimore became even more motivated and confident that he could bounce back to greatness and reach his life long goal of becoming an NFL player.
Now dreams have become a reality. Lattimore has been drafted and Lattimore will play in the NFL.
He will enter a great situation as well with the San Francisco 49ers. With a backfield filled with backs Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter, and LaMichael James. With those players ahead of him, it gives Lattimore all the time he needs to fully regain his health and get ready to live his dream.
