Latin Berry (2013) - Hall of Fame - University of Oregon Athletics

Latin Berry

Induction:
2013
Class:
1990

He was more than a two-sport athlete – he was a two-sport All-American. Football may have drawn the limelight but it may have been track & field that stole his heart. Few athletes of his time exuded the passion of Latin Berry, who was a three-year starting fullback for a team that broke the Ducks’ 26-year bowl drought as well as a five-time Pac-10 Conference champion in the long and triple jumps. It was not uncommon to witness the former Milwaukie High School standout jump from a grueling full-pad spring football scrimmage to the Hayward Field infield on the same afternoon. The intense competitor and four-time track & field All-American became the conference’s first horizontal jumper in 17 years to win both events in the same Pac-10 championship meet in 1988. Oregon’s two-time track & field team MVP and football team’s most inspirational player award honoree set the school’s long jump school record (26-8.5) in 1989 before falling one-inch shy of the program’s triple jump standard (53-10.25) that same season. On the gridiron, Berry ran for 1,570 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards per carry while complementing the school’s all-time rushing leader. Graduating as the Ducks’ ninth-leading rusher of all time, he finished seventh in the Pac-10 in running with the football his senior year. Following his collegiate football career, which ended with a berth in the 1989 Independence Bowl, he was drafted in the third round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.