A Moment to Remember

Today I'm veering off from the normal kiddo post to talk about a pretty awesome thing I witnessed today.

Today I witnessed a devestating moment for a wonderful athlete and my heart broke for this young man who has always kept his chin up and has battled back from injury to regain his spot as a top player in the nation.  When they drove the cart out on the field we knew the injury was bad. There were rumors from those who were watching on TV and could see the replay that this injury might be career ending. Devestating. But then something truly amazing happened. Something that brought tears to everyone's eyes. Tennesse players started coming over to give encouraging words to Lattimore and then the USC sideline emptied as our players went over as well. What an awesome display of sportsmanship and show of respect for this young man.


Then fans, players, and coaches from other teams started tweeting and putting up facebook posts. We saw an amazing show of support from Clemson athletics and the Clemson football players. We saw SEC rival teams, coaches, and players tweeting their support. We saw players, teams, and coaches from across the nation reaching out to this young man that they knew by reputation only.

One thing I noticed as I looked at all the coverage and posts was not a single person talked about Lattimore's injury being devestating to the team from a win-loss aspect. While he's a great player and a huge contributor to the team we CAN win without him. Not one word was said about our season being "over" because of the loss of Lattimore. The sadness everyone is feeling is not for Marcus Lattimore the South Carolina football player but it is for Marcus Lattimore the young man who has shown over and over that he has tremendous strength of character and who has a honest humility so rarely seen in athletes today and who also happens to be a football player for the University of South Carolina.