If brutal hitting and brutal trash-talking are family traits, then the San Francisco 49ers just brought in one of the roughest, toughest blood lines in the NFL.
The 49ers signed Keon Lattimore, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Lattimore is the younger brother of the Baltimore Ravens' ten-time Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis.
Lattimore will not exactly be the second coming of Ray Lewis. Lattimore is a running back, and will not even be playing on defense.
More significantly, Lattimore was signed to the 49ers' practice squad. His role is to emulate the upcoming opponent's running back in practice, and he is not scheduled to play against the Texans Sunday. Practice squad players can only play in games if they are activated to the active roster the week before that particular game.
But Lattimore does really, really resemble Ray Lewis. He may not have a single NFL carry to his credit, but he probably does not have to wait in lines to get into clubs when he so strongly resembles Ray Lewis.
Lattimore has previously appeared on the rosters of the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
It is often said that with Patrick Willis, the 49ers have a younger version of Ray Lewis. Now the 49ers' practice squad literally as it.
Sports
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who will no way, no how make any "I didn't shoot no #$@&% lion" jokes around immediate members of Ray Lewis' family.
