In the autumn of 2011, Marcus Lattimore was the best running back in college football — a surefire top NFL pick who appeared physically ready for the pros when he was only a sophomore.

But last November, Lattimore abruptly retired from the game he loved and had given much of his life to. He was 23 years old at the time. He had just cause for bitterness and anger over what might have been.

Lattimore should have been able to enter the pros after his sophomore season at South Carolina, but NFL age rules barred him from doing so. Instead, he had to return for his junior season. During that junior season, Lattimore suffered a devastating knee injury. He tried to make it as a pro, but was simply never the same player after that blow.

“I have given my heart and soul to the game that I love, and it’s time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life and help others," Lattimore posted to his social media accounts in November 2014. "I have given every ounce of my energy toward making a full recovery from my knee injury, and I have made a lot of progress. Unfortunately, getting my knee fully back to the level the NFL demands has proven to be insurmountable."

Here's what we wrote at the time:



Lattimore reportedly had a $1.7 million insurance policy to help protect him against just this kind of result. He's by all accounts a smart, hard-working guy. In short, Marcus Lattimore will be fine in life — but it's impossible not to think of what might have been if he'd been allowed to ply his trade when he was ready, not when rules said it was OK.



Turns out Lattimore is indeed doing well in retirement. And more importantly, he's doing good.

The ex-player's organization, the Marcus Lattimore Foundation, recently took 25 children on a holiday shopping spree in South Carolina, according to local Georgetown County news station WBTW. The children were selected from families among those hit hardest when the state was battered by flooding in October. Many of them are still months away from being able to return to their water-damage homes.

But for part of one day at least, Lattimore treated those kids to a day free from bigger worries. The video embedded below from WBTW tells the heart-warming story.

"Seeing how happy they were, it's the most gratifying feeling you can have," Lattimore said.

Even better — or at least more meaningful — than NFL glory.