Former 49ers running back Marcus Lattimore’s football career ruined due to injuries but poetry healed him

In a recent interview with FOX 12 Oregon, Marcus Lattimore discussed his journey from football player to spoken-word poet in Portland. Football ran in the family; his brother, father, and uncle played.

“It’s just a part of our culture,” he said. The same was expected from him.The University of South Carolina witnessed a star in Marcus, but when he was about to enter the next chapter of his career, the NFL, he saw a different side to his culture.

Marcus Lattimore’s major injuries included dislocated knee and every ligament torn

In 2011, South Carolina Gamecocks running back tore a ligament in his knee while playing against the Mississippi State Bulldogs; as a result, he had to miss the remainder of the season.

Demonstrating remarkable determination, he made an enthralling comeback the next season, only to suffer a major injury to his right knee while facing the Tennessee Volunteers.Following this devastating setback, Lattimore’s knee was dislocated, every ligament was torn, and there was nerve damage. His knee required surgical repair. Nevertheless, a month later, he declared himself eligible for the NFL. The San Francisco 49ers picked him in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

However, he was placed on the reserve / non-football injury list in August 2013.

Redshirt season and early NFL retirement

The 2013 season was Marcus’ redshirt season, when he was recovering from injuries, but it also allowed him to extend his eligibility. He spent most of his time in rehab. Whenever he felt ready to play, another injury popped up.“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.

I persisted. I continued to keep trying, but one day I just couldn’t anymore. I was just lost, I was lost, and I didn’t know what was next,” Lattimore told FOX 12. “I tried, but I can’t try anymore, I’m done,” he told the head athletic trainer, Jeff Ferguson, then. A year later, in 2014, he retired from the NFL. He coached at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia from 2016 to 2017 as a running backs coach and head coach.

He was a director of player development from 2018 to 2020 in South Carolina. He was running backs coach and life coach at Lewis & Clark College in 2020.

Open mic poetry in Portland

In 2020, the former college football star yearned for a fresh start and found himself in Portland, a place that reminded him of football. He stumbled upon a poetry open mic there.“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,” Lattimore told FOX 12.Though it was new territory for him, it was healing a part that had been lost with football. Poetry did not just act as therapy for him, but it became his new dream. A decade later, he now performs spoken-word poetry in Portland. He was crowned the 2024 Spoken Word Grand Slam Champion in Oregon. Lattimore’s story is a reminder that no matter how devastating football injuries can be for a player, there will always be something waiting to embrace him with open arms and comfort.