Darius Latham (born November 9, 1994) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He played for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

for two seasons from 2016–2017. He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers.

Early years

Latham was born to Cori Latham and David Turner on November 9, 1994. Graduating from

North Central High School North Central High School may refer to one of many high school in the United States: *North Central High School (Farmersburg, Indiana) *North Central High School (Indianapolis) *North Central High School (Louisiana), Lebeau, Louisiana * North Cent ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Latham lettered all four years in both

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and football. During his high school football career, Latham received several accolades for his on the field achievements, including rated the Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 player and all-state as a junior and senior, Indiana Associated Press Class 5A All-State as a senior and honorable mention as a junior, selected to the 2012 Indianapolis Star Super Team, runner-up for the Indianapolis Star Position Award (defensive line), nominated for the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and two-time first-team all-conference and All- Marion County selection. Latham would make 62 tackles with eight sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss in 2012 and was voted team captain as a senior and the defensive lineman of the year his final two seasons. Latham was rated the Number 3 prospect in Indiana and the Number 160 prospect nationally by 247Sports, while achieving the rating of Number 14 defensive tackle nationally and the Number 239 prospect overall by Rivals.com.

College career

Latham received offer letters from 17

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

schools, including

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, Notre Dame and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. On February 6, 2013, Latham signed his

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play football for

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Freshman

Latham would start all 12 games as a freshman for the Hoosiers. He recorded his first sack of his collegiate career against

Indiana State Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

on August 29, 2013. Latham would finish the season making 22 tackles with two sacks (14 yards), three tackles for loss (16 yards), one fumble recovery and three pass breakups. Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, Latham would receive honorable mention for the All-Big Ten Freshman team from BTN.com.

Sophomore

Latham would start in 10 of 12 games his sophomore year. He would finish the season making 26 tackles with 1.5 sacks (6 yards), 5.5 tackles for loss (15 yards), one fumble recovery and three pass breakups. Against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, Latham would post a career-high six stops.

Junior

During Latham's final year at Indiana, he played in 11 of 12 games. He would finish the 2015 season second on the team with four sacks (22 yards) and third on the team with 10 tackles for loss (35 yards). Additionally, he would record a total of 33 tackles, 16 solo, one interception, one pass breakup and two blocked kicks. Latham would finish the 2015 season receiving Honorable mention for the All-Big Ten team (coaches). On December 30, 2015, Latham declared his intention to enter the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Professional career

Latham was predicted to be the second-best defensive tackle in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft by

Mel Kiper Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...

. Latham was not drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft; however, on April 30, 2016, he reached a deal with the

and was signed as an undrafted free agent. Latham signed a three-year contract, worth $1.62 million. On October 9, 2017, Latham was suspended four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. On December 4, 2017, he was waived by the Raiders and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 13, 2017. On April 26, 2018, Latham was waived by the Raiders. Latham signed with the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their ho ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

(AAF) for the 2019 season, but was waived during final roster cuts on January 30, 2019.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio

Indiana Hoosiers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Darius 1994 births Living people American football defensive tackles Indiana Hoosiers football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Indianapolis Arizona Hotshots players