Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf gave NFL defenses another reason to fear him on Sunday ― and he wasn’t even playing football.
Metcalf raced against polished sprinters in a 100-meter heat at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut, California.
The NFL star got the invitation to compete after he went viral for chasing down Arizona Cardinals speedster Budda Baker to halt what seemed like a sure touchdown in October.
Metcalf, a heavily muscled 6-foot-4 and 229 pounds, dwarfed his fellow track competition, but ran a respectable 10.36 seconds. He got a good start and hung with the leaders for much of the race before fading to ninth place in the field of nine. He did not advance to the final.
Still, an athlete of Metcalf’s size bursting from the blocks in step with well-trained sprinters was pretty damn impressive. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson told him so.
“I think I did very well for myself,” Metcalf said.
“These are world-class athletes. They do this for a living,” he added. “It’s very different from football speed, from what I just realized.”
Here’s the play that caught everyone’s attention last fall.
Cravon Gillespie won the 100-meter final in 9.96 seconds. The automatic qualifying standard for the U.S. Olympic trials is 10.05 seconds.