When I was just 20-years-old, the team I had followed "my whole life" was Florida State. Many times I saw them squander opportunities to win a national title in football and baseball. Of course we are talking about a eight-to-nine year window which, today, seems silly to me but at 20, seemed an eternity. On January 1, 1994, the wait was over. The 'Noles defeated Nebraska for their first championship and I was elated! Within 10 minutes, the euphoria had passed and I realized that so much passion and emotion had been invested with such little return. It was a moment that I matured and had one of my first adult life-lessons. I had learned that it was just a game and that nothing was different in my life. I began to enjoy athletics in a different manner from that point forward.
Saturday, October 27, 2012, I was reminded for the second time that it was just a game. I will never forget watching the injury to Marcus Lattimore through my binoculars high above the playing surface in the press box of Williams-Brice Stadium. I blurted something out like, "Oh my God...his leg!" or something to that effect and quite honestly, I don't remember the words. What I do remember is looking up at the monitor for the live shot (which is on a delay) and seeing the look of sheer panic in Lattimore's face. To be able to imagine his mind racing and the thoughts that could possibly be passing through his mind were chilling. My heart sank. I felt a little cold and at that point I was not covering a football game, I was just another guy filled with compassion and sympathy for the one person who simply did not deserve this fate. I don't mean to imply that anyone deserves it, rather that Lattimore deserves better. Then I began to realize something, everyone else was feeling the same thing, having the same thoughts and hurting in the same manner.
As I watched the USC bench empty and then many of the Volunteer players join them to surround Lattimore, it was a touching moment that could soften the hardest of hearts. This is why. Before his 21st birthday, Marcus Lattimore has an impact on more people that I could have ever imagined. This young man has conducted himself in a way that demands respect. He has touched the hearts of a community, his fellow competitors and, of course, his teammates like few have ever done. The outpouring of support from facebook to twitter has been overwhelming. How can a man so young have such a huge impact on so many? How can he do it while maintaining an unassuming personality? He does it through character and action. Marcus Lattimore is a great football player. He is a great teammate. When anyone that knows him describes him, the adjective 'great' precedes the description. At the tender age of 21, that is already understood about Marcus. No one will deny that he is, quite simply, great.
