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Do not watch the above video if you haven't yet seen Marcus Lattimore's injury. If you watch it, skip the first minute or so, and just watch South Carolina's entire sideline surround their star running back after his ghastly knee collapse. Watch Tennessee players join in, many of them crying.
South Carolina fans aren't even thinking about football right now, and I can't blame them:
I do not care in the slightest what this means for South Carolina's 2012 or even 2013 football season. Not in the slightest. Even allowing myself to think about someone hypothetically thinking about that seems tawdry. I have never felt that way about a player on a team I root for succumbing to a season-ending injury. Even when Connor Shaw looked severely injured during the Vanderbilt game, my primary source of dread was, "Independence Bowl, here we come!"
But when Marcus went down again today, all I felt was rage at the idea that such a terrible thing could happen to such a good kid and frustration that there wasn't really anyone or anything to channel my rage toward. As good as Marcus is at playing football, his talent on the field almost seems secondary at this point to what he brings to the university as a student and a human being. If anyone has the resolve and determination to recover from such a brutal injury, it's Marcus Lattimore. You'll hear that repeated one thousand times in the coming months if you haven't already.
In the comments, fans of Clemson and many other fan bases check in with condolences. There's a Clemson fan in our traveling party this weekend who's planning to send Lattimore a letter of encouragement.
Elsewhere, fans of one of South Carolina's other most hated rivals were among the very many to send their regards the talented young man's way.
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