Marcus Lattimore’s draft reaction video brings his long post-injury journey full circle
As sad as the video of Marcus Lattimore's gruesome knee injury was, his story ended with a video that can be an inspiration for anyone struggling through adversity.
Many people, including myself, didn't imagine the video at the top of this post was possible last October. It was startling to hear Dr. James Andrews tell ESPN during a pre-draft interview that Lattimore's knee ligaments looked like hamburger meat, and he was lucky he didn't lose his leg. Nobody would have been too surprised if that injury ended his career.
We wrote a lot about Lattimore's journey back from that injury. He is one of the class acts in college football, and handled his injury as well as anyone could. He also worked hard to get in a position to do what seemed nearly impossible a few months ago, and get drafted by a NFL team.
That's why we're very happy to wrap up his story on this blog with the video of the pure joy and relief Lattimore experienced when the San Francisco 49ers called him to tell him he was drafted in the third round.
The video, which we first saw over at LostLettermen.com, shows Lattimore's draft day experience, and the 49ers' call comes at 2:05. He holds it together pretty well when he was on the phone with 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, as his family celebrates and his mother screams until Lattimore motions for her to calm down. His tears came later in the video. Feel free to shed some yourself as you watch. It's a beautiful moment for Lattimore and his family.
Hopefully this isn't the high point of Lattimore's professional journey. We'll be waiting to see more great, emotional moments from one of the most inspiring stories we've seen come out of college football in a long time.
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