Lattimore grateful to receive charity honor

Marcus Lattimore gets a lot of phone calls. Screening is a must.

Yet he was intrigued enough to answer this one.

“I got a call from a 702 number, and I was like, ‘Who is calling me from Las Vegas, Nevada?’” Lattimore said on Thursday. “And it was Burt Trembly, and he was like, ‘I got great news!’”

Trembly, executive director of the Fisher DeBerry Foundation, told Lattimore that he was being honored with the Jerry Richardson Community MVP Award during Thursday’s sixth South Carolina Coaches for Charity event at the Columbia Convention Center. Six college coaches – South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Wofford’s Mike Ayers, The Citadel’s Mike Houston, Furman’s Bruce Fowler and S.C. State’s Buddy Pough – joined DeBerry to pledge their support for various charities.

Lattimore was Spurrier’s pick for the MVP award because of his relentless efforts in helping children since his retirement from the NFL. Lattimore has been a fixture in helping build playgrounds, holding football camps and stressing physical fitness to all of South Carolina’s youths.

“What a great honor,” Lattimore said. “All these coaches here and I get to meet all these guys and hang out with them. It’s something I love to do. I love working with the community, and it’s something I’ll do for the rest of my life because it’s fun.”

Lattimore succeeds Upstate buddy Dylan Thompson, who won the award last year. The former USC quarterback is about to start training camp with the San Francisco 49ers, Lattimore’s old team.

“You look at Dylan Thompson, a guy that really helped me in college grow in my faith,” Lattimore said. “I’m forever faithful to him, and I’m looking for a great season for him. It’s just an honor to be in that category.”

Lattimore’s newest venture involves partnering with DHEC to promote that organization’s oral health campaign. Lattimore, who lost a tooth during a game in high school and also lacerated his gum due to a savage hit in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl, is close to the situation.

“I’ve had some past experiences with that,” he said. “I had to keep my teeth right. I’m going to help them out the best I can.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 11:15 PM.