By Gregg Bell
The News Tribune
Daring DK Metcalf to do something athletically is bound to become a reality.
The freakish, 6-foot-4, 230-pound Seahawks wide receiver and speedster with next-to-no body fat learned to swim last year. Teammate Russell Wilson coached — and coaxed — him to swim for the first time during their offseason workouts in Mexico.
Metcalf already out-leaps most NFL defenders. Seattle’s star wide receiver bulls through them to get open and score touchdowns. He’s run down Arizona safety Budda Baker across more than 100 yards, starting 10 yards behind him, to save a touchdown on an interception return.
Metcalf did that in October. It was an all-heart play coaches of all sports will be showing their players for decades to come.
USA Track & Field noticed Metcalf’s miraculous sprint against the Cardinals. After that play, USATF basically dared Metcalf to compete against its professional sprinters.
USATF posted on its Twitter feed, quote-tweeting a video of Metcalf running down Baker: “For everyone asking if we have a spot open on our relay team for @dkm14 , @NFL players are welcome to come test their speed against real speed next year at the Olympic Trials.”
Metcalf responded online with: “See you there.”
And that seemed to be it.
Until now.
USA Track & Field announced Monday Metcalf is competing against professional track sprinters in the 100-meter races at the Golden Games competition Sunday in Walnut, California.
Metcalf confirmed his appearance in the Golden Games 100 meters. He posted a video on his Twitter account of spikes dropping on a track and the caption “May 9th” appearing over the shoes.
The October night Metcalf ran down the stunned Baker in Arizona, the 23-year-old receiver was timed at a top speed of 22.64 miles per hour. He covered 114.8 yards from the center of the field at one goal line, where Wilson threw an interception outside intended for running back Chris Carson, to the sideline down which Baker was cruising to the opposite goal line.
The average speed of the current world record in the 100 meters, Usain Bolt’s 9.58 seconds set in 2009, is 23.35 mph.
Then again, Bolt wasn’t wearing shoulder pads and a helmet, as Metcalf was while chasing down Baker. Bolt also wasn’t running a diagonal, on grass, in heavy, thick cleats, through other huge men in shoulder pads and helmets.
The record top speed in mph for a 100-meter track race is Bolt’s 27.78 mph from that same 2009 World Championships race in Berlin in which he set the world record of 9.58 seconds.
Metcalf reportedly needs a time of under 10.2 seconds Sunday in the Golden Games (with a legal tailwind of no more than 2 meters per second) to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials June 18-27 in Eugene, Oregon. A time of 10.05 seconds Sunday would automatically qualify Metcalf for the Olympic trials. Those will be held almost exactly one month before he and the Seahawks are scheduled to begin training camp in Renton.
In 2016, a time of 10.16 seconds qualified for the last U.S. Olympic Trials.
Metcalf did not run track while playing football at his hometown University of Mississippi in Oxford. He was a track hurdler at Oxford High School, but not a sprinter.
Metcalf’s sprint in the USATF Golden Games will air on Sunday on NBC television, NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app beginning at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
