PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A former NFL player has found a new purpose here in the Rose City after suffering a career filled with devastating injuries.
University of South Carolina Hall of Famer Marcus Lattimore said football is all he knows.
“My brother played, my daddy played, my uncle played, it’s just a part of our culture,” said Lattimore.
But that changed at the height of his college career when the running back said he faced two injuries, including dislocating his knee and tearing all four ligaments.
“I knew the window for my NFL career was dwindling, but in that moment, that’s not something I wanted to believe,” said Lattimore.
Lattimore’s dream became a reality when he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round in 2013.
He spent most of his time with the team rehabbing from his injuries, and once he was ready to return to play, another injury struck him.
“I heard another pop in my knee, in that same knee where I tore all the ligaments, and I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it was bad,” said Lattimore. “I persisted, I continued to keep trying, but one day I just couldn’t anymore.”
He said he was devastated when he finally realized that it was time to hang up his cleats.
“I was just lost, I was lost, and I didn’t know what was next,” said Lattimore.
Lattimore said he was craving a fresh start in a place that reminded him of where he played, which led him to Portland, where he stumbled on a poetry open mic.
“I started going to these open mics, and people are doing the same things I’ve been doing in private, but they’re doing it on the mic, and they’re saying it out loud, and I’m like it feels really good when I leave these open mics,” said Lattimore.
He gave it a shot and said that though it was new territory, it was healing what he felt he had lost with football.
“I was nervous, I was scared, but it was a familiar feeling, it was like the feeling before a game,” said Lattimore.
He read FOX 12 one of his poems called ‘Grateful’. The poem is about accepting change, as he reads, “grateful for saying yes to the unknown, for saying yes to the moment, for saying yes to the fear.”
Now, Lattimore said it is not only his therapy but his new dream, and he found it all in the Rose City.
“It’s exactly what I needed from what I came from,” said Lattimore. “Physically, it’s been healing, spiritually, mentally, it’s me. Poetry is me, I can’t live without it.”
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