Jerry Latin, East football star and Rockford Black golf role model, dies at age 71

Posted by author February 19, 2025 Football

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Jerry Latin, a Rockford native, was known for his exceptional athleticism in football, track, baseball, and basketball.
Beyond his athletic achievements, Latin was a prominent figure in the Rockford Sportsman’s Golf Association, promoting golf within the Black community.
He played a crucial role in organizing the Ballard tournament, which raised over $100,000 for scholarships for Black golfers.

As a senior in 1970, all-conference safety Ken Lewis never sat on the bench because he also played fullback, blocking for Jerry Latin.

As a junior, Lewis never sat down because he worried Latin wouldn’t give him time to rest.

“Jerry was soooo good,” Lewis said of his East High teammate. “I never sat on the bench because you never knew when he was going to score. Against Guilford, he took two screen passes for 70- or 80-yard touchdowns.

“He was our Gale Sayers.”

In practice, Lewis once got to see exactly why it was so hard for opponents to defend Latin.

“I went up to tackle him on a punt return. Jerry juked me out. When I got up, I still had the dirt in my teeth. Mr. Pellant,” Lewis said of East coach Bob Pellant, “came up to me afterward and said, ‘Aren’t you glad Jerry is on our team?’ ”

Jerry Latin was the first 2,000-yard rusher in NIC-10 history. He went on to star for NIU and play three years in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals, including a 112-yard game against the Lions in 1975, and one year with the Rams. He was named the No. 8 greatest football player in Rockford history by the Rockford Register Star and was also a standout track, baseball and basketball athlete.

After his school days, he promoted golf in the Black community for decades as a key member of the Rockford Sportsman’s Golf Association, which ran the Ballard tournament for over 50 years.

He died this week at age 71.

“Jerry was just a good, quiet guy,” said Lewis, close friends with Latin since they began playing baseball together at age 12. “He was never a braggart. He never boasted about anything. Just performed on the field, baby.”

Performed like almost no one else in Rockford ever has.

“He was the big name in local sports for 20 years here,” said local sports historian Alex Gary, who runs the NIC-10 History Book website.

“We don’t have many players who starred at skill positions at major colleges. If you are looking at a Mount Rushmore of running backs out of this area, James Robinson is on there, Preston Pearson is on tere and Jerry Latin is on there. I don’t know who else is on there.”

Tim Groeninger, Boylan’s quarterback in 1970, knew all about what Jerry Latin could do on a football field. But knew him even better as a baseball player. They were Pony League teammates (along with Lewis) the summer before their freshman seasons in high school.

“He was the most gifted athlete of that era,” Groeninger said. “He did things so smooth and easy. He never looked like he was working hard — but you know he was. He could accelerate very, very quickly. He had unbelievable wrists; he could turn on the baseball. And in center field, he got to every ball that was hit.”

Long after he was through playing, Latin remained a force in Rockford through the RSGA. He took the lead role in running the Ballard, held as a memorial to Rockford’s first Black golfer. He even talked Lewis, a longtime golf coach at Hononegah, into becoming the group’s only white member.

“He was the key in the last 10, 15 years of the Ballard,” said Dave Claeyssens, the long-time Manager of Golf Services for the Rockford Park District. “He was our go-to and we were his go-to for the Ballard, which he pretty much ran. He was instrumental in keeping it going.”

The Ballard raised more than $100,000 over the years in college scholarships for Black golfers. It also brought Black golfers to Rockford from Chicago, Wisconsin and points between. It was a celebration of Black golf.

Run by one of the greatest athletes Rockford has ever seen.

“He was a legend at East,” said Duncan Geddes, a 1984 East grad who dealt some with Latin and the Ballard during his 30 years as the head pro and general manager at Aldeen Golf Club. “You talk about great athletes there, his name was always at the top of the list.”

Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.