Palmetto Proving Grounds

Sitting,Watching the Tennessee game, and like I'm sure most of ya'll, my heart sank and my breathe was literally taken away by what happened to Marcus.........Like most of ya'll, my eyes teared up..........and even before seeing the replay, you could see the shock and terror in Marcus' eyes when he took his helmet off.......and it's crazy how much you can care about someone you never met......I remember when we were recruiting Latt and I was happy about being in the running to get him at South Carolina, but I'm a guy who wants the big threat......a guy who can score from 90 yards out, a home run hitter, a lights out 3 pt shooter.......so while I realized he was a good running back at the time, I wasn't overly impressed by what I was looking at when I was watching his highlights........So he ends up coming to USC and of course I'm elated along with all of you that we were able to get a TOP NOTCH running back, something we hadn't had in a long time!!! Then I started reading articles about Marcus.......I had heard he was a popular kid up at Byrnes,but you start reading stories and interviews.......and even before stepping out on the field at Willy Brice, it hit me that THIS KID IS SPECIAL!!!! For all the negative crap you hear about athletes, EVERY single thing I read about Marcus was the complete opposite.........not just in football either,it was in EVERY aspect of life that this kid is GREAT!!! Of course, we know how his career has gone on the football field, and to know how hard he has worked, and how many players he has supported in one way or another with injuries like he had, it just is difficult to stomach for me, so I can't imagine what it must be like for him and his family.........but I believe there is a God, Like he does, and while I don't understand how he does things alot of the time, I know he will give Marcus the strength he needs to Do whatever needs to be done.........and I don't know If Marcus or his family will read this or not..........but If he does, Marcus, You are THE MAN amongst men, Your are THE running back (with due respect to George Rogers)and Player that I will measure all Running Backs and Players that will don the Garnet and Black while I am alive, and I don't know what is going on behind the scenes with you right now, but I KNOW that if this had happened to ANY other player, that I would doubt if they could come back.......but I have NO DOUBT that you can and are going to come back stronger again!!!!! There are Millions of people rooting for you, and we know you can do it!!!