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.