Devekeyan "DeDe" Lattimore (born January 30, 1991) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is currently a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. He has been a member of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

Early years

Lattimore played running back and linebacker at

Cedar Shoals High School Cedar Shoals High School is an American high school established in 1972 in Athens, Georgia, in the Clarke County School District. It and Clarke Central High School are the district's two main high schools, and their rivalry is known as the Classic ...

. in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. He recorded 96 tackles, four sacks and four forced fumbles his senior year. He was also named to the 2008 Georgia All-Star team and the All-Northeast Georgia team. Lattimore earned two Defensive Player of the Year honors in Region 8-AAAA. He rushed 88 times for 857 yards and six touchdowns his junior year. He also recorded 118 total tackles, 15 sacks and 18 quarterback hurries in 10 games.

College career

Lattimore played for the

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, w ...

from 2010 to 2013. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2009. In 2010, he was named a Freshmen All-American by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

. In 2011, he was named Second-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

and

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, prod ...

. In 2013, he earned Second-team All-

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

honors, was named USF Team MVP and was a team captain, leading the Bulls with a career-best 98 tackles.

Professional career

Lattimore was rated the 14th best

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

by NFLDraftScout.com. The website projected that he would be drafted in the seventh round or sign as an undrafted free agent. Nolan Nawrocki of NFL.com predicted that Lattimore would go undrafted and sign as a priority free agent, stating that Lattimore was a "Tightly wound, inconsistent, two-down Mike linebacker who projects as a backup inside in a 3-4, though he will have to prove his worth on special teams to last." Lattimore was signed by the

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) on May 11, 2014, after going undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was released by the Bears on August 31 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 1, 2014. He was released by the Bears on September 11 and re-signed to the team's practice squad on October 8, 2014. Lattimore made his NFL debut on October 12, 2014, against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, recording one tackle. On January 30, 2015, he was resigned to a two-year deal. He was waived by the Bears on August 15, 2015. Lattimore signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on February 19, 2016. He was released by the Roughriders on April 19, 2016.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bioSaskatchewan Roughriders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lattimore, DeDe Living people 1991 births Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football middle linebackers Canadian football linebackers African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football South Florida Bulls football players Chicago Bears players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Athens, Georgia 21st-century African-American sportspeople