Seattle Seahawks wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who has earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s fastest players, plans to test his speed against some of the US’ top sprinters on Sunday with a possible eye on the US Olympic trials.
Metcalf is to run in the 100m at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Golden Games and Distance Open in Walnut, California.
The Pro Bowler’s name appeared on the official entry list for the meet on Monday afternoon, when he appeared to confirm his participation with an enigmatic Twitter post.
Photo: AFP
Others who have entered the race include 2016 Olympian Mike Rodgers and Ronnie Baker, who ranks second in the US this year at 9.94 seconds.
The 1.9m, 104kg wide receiver’s flirtation with USATF began in October last year during a nationally televised prime time game against the Buffalo Bills.
As Buffalo safety Budda Baker streaked toward an apparent touchdown after intercepting Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson inside the five-yard line, Metcalf sprinted the length of the field before dragging down Baker short of the goal line.
Metcalf, who ran a 36.6-dash in 4.33 seconds at the 2019 NFL Combine, clocked a top speed of 36.44kph while covering 104.97m to catch Baker, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats platform showed.
The next day, USATF sent a playful online message inviting Metcalf to test himself against “real speed” at the Olympic trials, scheduled for next month at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
That same week, Metcalf’s agent dialed USATF executive Adam Schmenk to inquire about what making the team for the Tokyo Olympics might entail.
“DK’s agent told us that he really wants to try to make the Olympics and asked what steps he needs to take,” Schmenk told Yahoo Sports.
“We walked him through what the auto qualifying time was that he would have to run in a sanctioned USATF event and told him that we would help him find a lane if and when he wanted to do this,” Schmenk said.
A time of 10.05 seconds automatically qualifies for the US trials. A total of 15 US men expected to enter the 100m trials at Eugene have 10.05 right now, according to World Athletics.
The field would likely be filled with the next fastest men to 32 entries overall, NBC Olympics said.
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