On a cool and cloudy day in Walnut, California the sports world set their eyes on a normally ignored USA Track and Field event. One name drew the attention of the mainstream sports world, DK Metcalf. In a sport that has been yearning for a big name star since Usain Bolt retired in 2017, this was the first time a mainstream name appeared on the track. Sure familiar names like Allyson Felix and Justin Gatlin still are around, but the never have commanded the same draw that Bolt did. This event was different, a national star in a different sport took on the challenge to test his speed against some of the best in the world.
The hype around this event came on slowly then quickly. It all started back in October after Metcalf chased down Arizona’s Budda Baker after an interception, preventing a pick-six on Sunday Night Football. Besides the fact that it was an impressive all-out hustle play, the Next Gen Stats tracked him at a top speed of 22.64mph. At the time, it was the second fastest speed tracked in the 2020 NFL season. That got people wondering, how does he compare to the best in the world. USATF tweeted at Metcalf challenging him to test his speed against the best in the world – “real speed”. DK took on the challenge and retweeted back “See you there”. Most people forgot about that interaction until last week when he tweeted a video dropping spikes on a track with a simple date, May 9. That was on May 3rd, not even a week before the event. I’m not sure when NBC decided to cover the Golden Games, but since they had the luxury of Peacock to stream live sports they were able to cover the 100m prelims live on that platform.
The excitement didn’t just extend to football fans curious how football speed would translate to the track. The athletes running Sunday were asked about DK, and they didn’t seem bothered at all. In fact they seemed excited to see how he would do. They were glad he brought a higher profile to the event. After Metcalf finished he was interviewed right along with his heat winner Cravon Gillespie. Gillespie was in good spirits about him showing up, even if Metcalf torched his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, during the season. He didn’t seem to mind sharing the mic after winning the heat, knowing that the coverage for the prelim was all because of DK running. After the race was over you started to see Metcalf’s NFL colleagues giving him support and praising his efforts. It came from teammates like Russel Wilson as well as other stars like Patrick Mahomes.
While the admiration poured in after the race from athletes and sports fans alike, before the race was a different story. Most NFL fans were watching with curiosity and excitement – some thinking he might even make the Olympic Trials. However, in the track world, most were dismissing him. Right before the race, NBC Track and Field commentator Ato Boldon said that a 10.6-10.7 range would be an excellent race for him if he executed the race perfectly. Fans who follow Flo Track were giving similar projections – typically around the 10.6 range. The people who run Flo Track though might have been the most accurate. When they posted earlier in the week, they gave an over/under of 10.35 for his time allowing their followers to predict his finish. Based on the expectations leading into the event it seemed like an absurd line. But in the end they were incredibly close to the final result – the unofficial result gave him a 10.36, and he officially ran a 10.37. If they were running the books in Vegas they would have lost a lot of money, but in fun internet banter they gained some major bragging rights for being as close as they were.
Looking at DK’s race alone though, let’s discuss what could give him a shot at competing for a spot at the Olympic Trials. First, and most obviously is his size, he’s 6’4″ and 230lbs – to compare Usain Bolt was 6’5″ 205lbs when he was dominating the track world. It was obvious in the race that the last half Metcalf faded – especially in the last 20-30 meters. If he were 20 pounds lighter he might have been able to maintain his speed longer and finish the full 100 meters strong rather than battle down the stretch. The next spot he’d need to improve is his starts. This is where you see most football players excel – they burst out of the blocks to an early lead and hang on until the finish. This is why at the college level you usually see football-track crossover athletes be successful in the 60m dash indoors and rarely see them beyond the 100m distance outdoors. In the race yesterday Metcalf didn’t have a bad start, but he didn’t gain a lead either. He had a good start and didn’t break out of his drive phase too early. He was even in the top half of the field exiting the drive phase. But for him to have success on the track he’ll need to improve his starts and lead in the first quarter of the race. Lastly, and most importantly he’ll need to get more experience. This was the first race since high school for Metcalf. Considering that it’s a very impressive showing going up against athletes who train for this event all year round. He’s only spent the past 5 months or so getting ready for this race. Give him a couple more seasons under his belt he’ll be even stronger and more confident in race. He’ll know where he has to focus on and what he has to do to make the finals and even Olympic Trials.
The best part of this event though was that it got more people thinking about how other NFL speedsters might be able to compete in both sports. Despite his pre-race prediction being a drastic underestimate Ato Boldon seemed to be on board with this idea. He even called out for Tyreek Hill to test his speed on the track. That might be a more realistic crossover, he’s already built like your typical sprinter at 5’10” and 185lbs. He’s also known to be one of the fastest in the NFL. But who else could compete with the fastest in the world? Raheem Mostert had the fastest top speed for a ballcarrier last season – toping out at an impressive 23.09 mph. He also has a more traditional sprinter build at 5’10” as well, but at 20lbs more than Hill might have troubles down the stretch of the race like Metcalf did. Two other players had top speeds with the ball between Hill and Mostert – Kenyan Drake of the Cardinals and Jonathan Taylor of the Colts. They recorded speeds of 22.73 mph and 22.11 mph respectively. But both running backs carry more weight than Mostert and Hill which would make it difficult to hang with the best in the world. There might be some players on the defensive side of the ball that can compete as well, but I wasn’t able to find any stats on their top speeds in a game. For now the two most likely besides DK to compete on the track would be Mostert and Hill. Hopefully one will take on the challenge.
After the race, one thing was clear, DK Metcalf isn’t trying to make the Olympics this year. If he ran closer to a 10.2 he may have given it another shot, but 10.35 is too far off qualifying and then competing for a spot on team USA. His post race interview told it all, he wanted to take on the challenge and see how he could do. But he’s a football player first, when asked about his next race he said he had to focus on mini camp coming up. Looking at future races with Metcalf, we probably won’t see any until the leadup for the Paris Olympics in 2024. The track season only works for crossover athletes in football, unfortunately the World Championships would conflict with the NFL season more than an Olympic season would – and I don’t see any football player giving up games to compete at Worlds. The track world needs to keep an open mind about inviting and accepting athletes from other sports showing up though. They’ll help bring in more eyes and more money to a sport that desperately needs it. Unfortunately though, the’ll likely only be showing up to compete during Olympic years when the most eyes are already on the sport. Either way, it’s fun for fans and good for both sports to see.