Injured tailback eager to begin road to recovery
Ever receive a get-well card in the mail?
South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore has received, by his estimation, about a thousand of them over the last month.
“They’re coming from everywhere,” said Lattimore Tuesday in his first public comments since suffering a season-ending left knee injury in the Gamecocks’ 14-12 win at Mississippi State on Oct. 15.
Some have been sent to USC. Others have arrived at Lattimore’s home in the Upstate, or to his alma mater, Byrnes High. Most are written by children, sometimes entire elementary school classes, and all of them have provided some of the support Lattimore said has helped him get through what has been a difficult road at times.
“It’s been a real challenge for me, going through all this,” Lattimore said. “But my coaches and my teammates and my family and all the fans, they’ve been so supportive.”
Both Lattimore and coach Steve Spurrier said Lattimore would undergo surgery this week on the knee, although the exact date has yet to be determined. Team orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeff Guy will perform the surgery. Lattimore suffered ligament and cartilage damage in the knee. The injury was suffered when he was hit while blocking for slotback Bruce Ellington.
“I knew what had happened,” said Lattimore of the injury. “I knew it was pretty bad.”
Suffering such a severe injury was something Lattimore said he thought would never happen to him.
“I see it all the time,” Lattimore said. “I see torn ACLs, torn knees, torn ankles, Achilles. All that, all the time. I didn’t think it could happen to me.”
But it did. After the fact, Lattimore watched video of the specific play. Some athletes prefer not to see the moment they were injured on replay, but Lattimore said there was no hesitation in watching the play.
“I wanted to see it,” Lattimore said. “I wanted to see what happened exactly, because I really didn’t know what happened.”
Lattimore said traveling with the team to Tennessee for USC’s first game after he was injured was a difficult experience. He didn’t talk much, he said, and was “down a little bit” while watching from the sidelines.
“I see those guys out there playing, and I just wanted to be out there,” Lattimore said. “It was tough.”
But after returning home from Knoxville, Lattimore said he realized he couldn’t do anything to change what happened. Now he is focused on getting surgery over with and beginning his rehabilitation process with team strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald.
“I’m ready to get going,” Lattimore said. “Ready to get started and get back as fast as I can.”
In the meantime, he’ll continue to support his teammates as they look to finish the season strong.
“I love being with my team,” Lattimore said. “They’ve been playing their hearts out, these last three, four games. I’m real proud of Brandon.”
True freshman Brandon Wilds has played well in Lattimore’s place. The Blythewood native has 67 carries for 278 yards and a touchdown over the last three games, as well as seven catches for 60 yards. His play already has Lattimore thinking ahead to what USC’s backfield will look like when he is healthy next season. He likes what he’s seeing.
“Next year, it’s going to be real scary,” Lattimore said. “Brandon Wilds is playing real well. Going to have Shon (Carson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Georgia) and I’ll be back. I mean, the backfield’s just going to be scary.”