South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore has been telling teams he’s going to be ready for the start of next season.
Now he’s showing them as well.
Lattimore, who is coming off back-to-back season-ending knee injuries (to different knees), has been hanging around Senior Bowl week in Mobile, even though he wouldn’t have been eligible to play if he were well.
“Just letting teams see me walk around,” Lattimore told Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com and Jim Miller on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I feel that’s big — and know I’m going to be fine and ready by Week 1.”
Lattimore tore the ACL in his left leg last year, and then dislocated his right knee and tore other ligaments this season.
Without the injuries, he’d have been one of the top backs in this year’s class, and now he’s trying to convince teams he’s going to be able to help them this year.
“I always say, ‘Adversity introduces a man to himself,’ ” Lattimore said. “That’s a quote that pops in my mind every time I’m going through a hard day or don’t feel like doing something. That keeps me going.”
Lattimore’s agents have sent out video to all 32 teams of him running in a pool. He said he’d start jogging on a treadmill within two weeks. He hopes to have an individual workout in April to prove his fitness.
“Everything happens for a reason. This reason was it made me mentally tougher,” Lattimore said. “It put things in perspective where I’ll never take anything — walking, running — for granted again.
“I know what it’s like to not walk and run.”
If he can prove himself well, that kind of attitude will be a hit with NFL teams.