In two seasons with the Seahawks, DK Metcalf has shown himself to be one of the fastest players in the NFL, blowing by cornerbacks to get open for deep catches, and on one occasion last season, sprinting the length of the field to chase down Arizona safety Budda Baker to save a touchdown.
This weekend, Metcalf will see how that speed measures up against elite track and field athletes.
Metcalf has entered to compete in the 100-meter dash on Sunday at the USATF Golden Games and Distance Open in Walnut, California, and he'll be competing against an elite field of sprinters that includes several runners who have run sub 10-second 100-meter times.
The meet will air on NBC, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. PT. Metcalf dropped a not-so-subtle hint on social media Monday that he had something cooking in the track and field world.
Metcalf, who ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, last competed in track and field as a senior at Oxford High School, and finished second in the 5A state championship in both the 110-meter hurdles (14.89 seconds) and the triple jump (46-feet, 5 inches). Metcalf was also part of a state-champion 4x100 relay team that holds the state record with a time of 41.51 seconds.
It was perhaps Metcalf's "most remarkable" effort of chasing down Baker after an interception last fall that got the ball rolling on all of this. A day after the game, the Twitter account for USA Track & Field shared the video of that play and said all NFL players are welcome to "test their speed against real speed at next year's Olympic Trials."
If Metcalf is planning on pursuing track past this event, he would need to run a 10.05-second 100 or better on Sunday to automatically qualify for next month's Olympic Trials. A slightly slower time could qualify depending on how many athletes meet the automatic standard—as NBC Sports notes, a time of 10.16 was fast enough to qualify for the Trials in 2016.
