Is this the same guy who played football here? FWIW, I've always thought spoken word stuff was idiotic.
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Marcus Lattimore the poet
- Thread starter 18IsTheMan
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To each his own. He turned out to be a........ different kinda dude.
Would be interesting to talk to Marcus. Based on a number of things he's written and said since leaving, he seems to feel like he was forced into some kind of template or mold that was not really him while he was here. He refers to racial dynamics but also to religious ones a few times when looking back. I think he feels like he was used to promote the interests of others? Maybe the pressure to live up to an unattainable image? Seems like a smart guy who is hurting and unpacking a lot of things.
It’s called life…..it’s tough…..wear a helmet.
I’m a beloved football star, people love me and look out for me, I am famous and school is paid for. Rough stuff.
I bet he never paid for a meal while here. He had a nasty injury that could have happened anywhere at any time. That part makes me sad for him.
Any issues he has probably go deeper than his time here. If he hated football he could have quit at any moment
I’m a beloved football star, people love me and look out for me, I am famous and school is paid for. Rough stuff.
I bet he never paid for a meal while here. He had a nasty injury that could have happened anywhere at any time. That part makes me sad for him.
Any issues he has probably go deeper than his time here. If he hated football he could have quit at any moment
Yeah, I’m not really sure I got some of his complaints. I suppose he just felt pressure from somewhere to be something other than who he was, but that’s not the fans fault he felt that way. He seemed to make it sound like a burden that he was loved and adored and supported by essentially the entire state. Even after he was no longer able to play fans still loved him, so it’s not like we only liked him while he was playing football.
I guess maybe the crux of it is South Carolina is an overall conservative state and he probably wasn’t a conservative dude at his core and realized his personal take on a lot of things wouldn’t fit with the state.
But the notion of him being somehow oppressed and persecuted while he was here doesn’t ring with me. And the racial stuff about somehow feeling compelled to be white. I don’t get that at all. It’s not like he went to some new England town where there’s hardly any African-Americans. You have Black people all over the state.
Just let him be. Don't try to figure him out.
Oh, I believe he's expressing his true feelings. But feelings can be flawed.
Made me think about Ricky Williams. It felt like fans appreciated Marcus Lattimore's athletic talents and admired the man they thought he was. I don't know Lattimore but always thought he was a high-character guy. Maybe be he is, may he isn't. I hope he finds peace for himself and with others.
....or you just disagree with it. Kids like Marcus get pulled into a world that they are not comfortable just because they can tote a football or bounce a basketball. They get pushed and pulled into all sorts of directions. Some go with the flow. Some say I am not comfortable with this or I don't really like the direction that I am being pushed. I think this period of reflection is what Marcus is going through right now. He will be fine.
Just a statement of fact. Feelings are subjective. The way I feel about something may not, in fact, reflect that thing accurately.
Personally, I think Marcus is struggling to find his place in a world without football, which certainly understanding for someone who was seemingly destined for football greatness. Would he be this jaded about things if he had gone onto a successful football career? I'm just not sure I understand his apparent resentment towards a sport that treated him well and a fan base that loved and adored him, even after his career was over, so it's not the fans loved him only as long as he was a good football player. It seems he became uncomfortable (well, not seems, it was own words) with the notion that fans loved him as Marcus the football player but didn't know him as a person. I can understand compartmentalizing it, but would he have preferred fans to just not care about him anymore? Maybe.
And, of course, yes, everyone's entitled to their own opinions and all that other boilerplate blah blah blah.
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I think you are misreading it a little. I think it's not just our fanbase. I think it's a questioning of the entire system of young men being in a situation that is not them or they are not comfortable in just because they have a skill that someone thinks is valuable. A lot of us have been there. I know I have. Most of us just don't express it in a public way like Marcus has.
Hopefully, he finds whatever he is looking for and it brings him some happiness.
I don't know if anyone is forced to play football. Pressured, maybe. It's really no different any other skill set in life that is considered valuable. Not unique to football. Football just happens to pay a heck of a lot more if you can make a career out of it. Not sure how being recognized for having a skill is so terrible.
I think Jadeveon really didn't love football. He just happened to the best player on the field in high school and often in college. His lack of passion kind of came to the surface in the NFL.
But it's not like athletic kids are rounded up and sent to football camps and forced to play football. As best I know, at any level, players are free to quit whenever they want.
Some parents literally force their kids into sports. Or hunting and fishing.
Sure, at the younger levels. I doubt a parent can make a kid play college football. Or go play for the 49ers. But the other poster was referencing a "system" that forces kids with athletic skills to play football. Just not sure that exists.
Unrelated to your post, but consolidating posts here: And as to feedback, Marcus puts this stuff out there on his own for public consumption. Once you do that, it's fair game for people to weigh in with what they think. So any of the "let Marcus alone" crowd can pound sand. You don't put stuff on social media because you don't want people talking about it.
I don't even think it's the football part that he is talking about so much. I think it's more the social aspect of what football brings to you. People who would probably never had spoken to Marcus in life now just want to come and talk, take pictures, expect an autograph. .....and you are expected to be gracious about it. Now, people who would probably be an a**h**** to you normally in life are now all in your face grinning. I think he is using his poetry more to reflect on that period of his life more than bashing the sport of football itself.
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This makes sense. He's mad that people are being nice to him, and showing respect.
I totally get that. I know a lot of people who struggle with being liked and respected.
lol, it makes a lot more sense when you put it that way.
I certainly understand the pressures that come with being Marcus Lattimore and living in SC. He probably wanted to move past his football time but that wasn't going to be possible in Columbia. I don't understand resenting people for liking you, though.
Resenting people for liking you was probably just a very bad wording of the issue.
He was officially a man, but still a kid. And he had celebrity status. Lots of people struggle with that, but I struggle to offer too much sympathy, as it's by their own choices.
Sometimes you find your place through the process of pain. This is surely not the audience for those poems, but there is definitely a market for it. The first one was "meh" to me. However, the "Drink, Smoke, Sip" poem was excellent. If he indeed wrote that, there may be a future in this space.
I have always liked Marcus, but I am getting victim vibes here which is not endearing to me. He is not alone. Victimhood seems to be much more prevalent in young(er) people today. It's a shame.
Yea…..some Colin Kapernick stuff right there. Like you said, the freedom to stop playing football was always on the table. No one is ever forced to play, at least in college or the NFL. So this notion of mounting pressure seems to be more of a mental issue than anything to me.
Victimhood does not discriminate by age. I see a lot of victimhood on these message boards every day and some of the posters are quite old. ....and how is thinking some people's interest in you not being genuine being a victim?
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Because they're strangers who are interested in you for your celebrity.
Are these strangers supposed to know him personally before they can tell him how awesome he was at football and ask for a picture with him?
Again, some kids (and adults) don't like being celebrities. Playing the victim card for being a celebrity though seems weak when it's by choice.
That's not being a victim to me. That just expressing what he feels and what I would say to Marcus more than anything is that you didn't have to grant those people access to you, man. Yes, people may call you names, but he can look at this thread and see people will say negative things about you regardless. This issue is one of the main reasons that I have never been one wanting to strike a conversation with someone that had some fame randomly. Those people are human too. Sometimes, they just don't want to be bothered.
My question to you Lurker though is, Let's say Marcus went the Herschel Walker route and soaked in all the extra attention and said something negative about the Black community any time he got a chance, would he be a victim as to regard to his feelings or would he be "Telling it like it is". Sometimes our analysis gets clouded and we become defensive when you are the group of a certain critique.
Complaining about being treated like a celebrity, when you chose that path is playing a victim to me.
I think your mistake is trying to make it about what political comments are made or what "side" they are on. I don't care, celebrities opinions are worth the same as anyone else's.
My comment is, you're a celebrity. People will admire/respect/worship you for what game you played, or what movie you acted in, or what song you sang.
Complaining that these people don't know the " real you", or that they only like you for what game, movie or song you made is silly. Of course that's why they like you. They are strangers to you and only know you for your game, movie or song.
Seems like he has a talent, for poetry, good for him, seems to enjoy it.
I enjoy his poetry as well.
I enjoy his poetry as well.
Where I get lost is this…many folks when they reach the popularity he did have hanger-ons and folks who are only interested in you when you serve their needs. I get those folks having some resentment.
For Marcus, I don’t think that was the case. Not saying he didn’t have some, but the people of SC showed him tremendous support after is injury. The school gave him a job. He most likely could have gone to just about any job he was remotely qualified for any where in this state, and get it. All because of a game. It is like actors who trash a movie that launched their career.
I don’t buy the victim card.
For Marcus, I don’t think that was the case. Not saying he didn’t have some, but the people of SC showed him tremendous support after is injury. The school gave him a job. He most likely could have gone to just about any job he was remotely qualified for any where in this state, and get it. All because of a game. It is like actors who trash a movie that launched their career.
I don’t buy the victim card.
I didn't read the story so don't know. Did he say he was a victim or was that just posters conclusions?
....and my point is that they are strangers. You don't have to talk to any of them, Marcus. It's your choice. I think he realizes that now and is expressing how he felt back then in his poetry. His expression in this way makes you mad. So, he is a victim in your mind. That's okay too, I guess.
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No, he doesn't have to talk to them. He also doesn't have to cry about being famous when it was his choice.
And who's mad? I guess if it helps you pretend that I am, go for it. You do you.
30+ years ago, I was with a friend in the lobby of the CNN Building awaiting our tour of the facility to begin. Hank Aaron comes strolling along on the opposite side of the lobby tending to whatever business brought him there. My friend raced across the lobby to shake his hand. I stayed in my seat.
From my distance, it appeared that Mr. Aaron was gracious enough. My gut told me that was an invasion of his privacy, which is why I stayed back.
Now had Mr. Aaron walked past us, I might have smiled, said hello, and thanked him for all the goodwill he brought to baseball fans across the southeast. No shaking hands. no asking for an autograpgh. I would probably do something similar with Dawn Staley if our paths were to ever cross.
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Exactly. I've seen some prominent people out in public. If in close proximity, I might nod and say, "how are you?" Gushers demean themselves and risk being rebuffed.
I was standing in line at the Will Call window to pick up my tickets for a hockey game along with Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons. We had a nice, normal conversation while waiting. Baseball never came up.
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