February | 2025 | THE BIG RED ZONE

Jerry Latin, who played running back for the St. Louis Football Cardinals from 1975-1978, passed away this morning at the age of 71.

One of the greatest football players to come out of Rockford, Illinois, Latin starred at Rockford East High School and played college ball at Northern Illinois University.

After an injury-plagued senior season in DeKalb, the Cardinals selected Latin with their eleventh round pick in the 1975 NFL Draft.

“I was the last pick by the Cardinals,” Latin said in a 2020 interview in the Rockford Register Star. “I look at a guy like Jim Germany. He was the second-round pick out of New Mexico State,” Latin said. “If I hadn’t gotten hurt, could I have been a second-round pick?”

“I just went there to see what it was all about,” he said of his first training camp. “Then I got on the field and I saw that I hit just as hard as they did. I ran just as fast. I was just as good.”

Latin backed up Pro Bowl running back Terry Metcalf during his stay in St. Louis. But, he got his chance to shine in the 1975 season finale against the Detroit Lions and made the most of it.

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Former St. Louis Cardinals running back and special teams star Willard Harrell was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday at a ceremony in Springfield, Missouri.

Harrell was one of 22 inductees that included former Kansas City Royal Matt Damon, St. Louis Cardinal Matt Adams, and Mizzou Tiger Brock Olivo.

The Stockton, CA native was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1975 and played in the NFL for 10 years. Harrell scored a touchdown the first time he ever touched the ball when he raced 82 yards on a punt return in the Packers first exhibition game. In his second season, he led the team in rushing. After being released by Green Bay in 1978, Harrell had a tryout with the Cardinals where he eventually signed and played seven seasons.

According to the Missouri Hall of Fame enshrinement program, Harrell had one man to thank for becoming a St. Louis Cardinal.

“A few days later (after the tryout), they contacted my agent with an offer and I became a Cardinal,” Harrell said. “I found out later that Hanifan (former St. Louis head coach Jim Hanifan) was responsible for me becoming a Cardinal. He remembered me from my college days and always wanted me to play for him.”

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