Demps giving up football for track!

He is an NCAA athlete going pro in something other than football...

He apparently turned down some MILLIONS in sponsor money last summer to turn pro in track and run in the world championships. He said he wanted to play football one more time (last fall). That's over and he is now concentrating on a track career.

This is the path I thought he would take. In all honesty he really didn't do anything the past two years in football.

Maybe with a pure track focus he might be able to make the Olympic team.

what happened to the other thread?

Don't think he'll get paid as much as he could of.

hit the street wrote:

Don't think he'll get paid as much as he could of.

and he is a lot less likely to be a cripple and/or problems stemming from concussions at age 40.

hit the street wrote:

Don't think he'll get paid as much as he could of.

and he is a lot less likely to be a cripple and/or problems stemming from concussions at age 40.

douglas burke wrote:

and he is a lot less likely to be a cripple and/or problems stemming from concussions at age 40.

Yeah. I hear that professional football players end up having brain problems that make them do crazy things. Like some of them will just repeat things for no reason. Like they'll say something, then they'll just say the same exact thing again. Really weird. Glad I'm a runner and not a football player.

ur right wrote:

douglas burke wrote:

and he is a lot less likely to be a cripple and/or problems stemming from concussions at age 40.

Yeah. I hear that professional football players end up having brain problems that make them do crazy things. Like some of them will just repeat things for no reason. Like they'll say something, then they'll just say the same exact thing again. Really weird. Glad I'm a runner and not a football player.

I've read that the average career length of an NFL running back is 3 years. I think 3 years from now Jeff will feel he made the right decision.

I can't wait to see what this guy can do when he loses the football weight and focuses on sprinting full time. Such an incredible talent.

This is the part of the thread where we begin listing the people that will make the team at 100 meters over Demps in 2012...perhaps we can speculate those that will make the team in 2016 over Demps to determine whether A. he himself is making the right choice and B. his sponsor (most likely Nike or perhaps even UA) spending the 250K + that they will spend are making a smart choice.

begin list now...

In the U.S. a lot of our sprinting talent goes towards football and our middle distance talent towards other sports. What if more players made the switch/ran track in their offseason? Would we as a country be more competitive on the world stage?

Demps will be #3 soon, behind only a healthy Gay and Dix.

Rodgers is like a sprinting mirage, I don't see big things for him--although he should make the relay.

The guys on the bubble, like Rodgers, Williams, Gatlin, etc. are really going to be messed up by the serious arrival of Demps.

I'm picking Demps as the next Nesta Carter.

Although Blake will be the next 9.7x guy, I could see Demps going 9.7x within, say, 2 years of getting serious--or at least low 9.8x.

Mitchell for the 200. Demps, Mitchell, and Salaam for the next wave, at the next Olympics in 2016.

Relay of Rodgers, Dix, Demps, and Gay will challenge for silver, and maybe a lucky shot at gold, depending on handoffs.

I can wait until Demps learns to sprint better.

Demps is exactly what US mens' sprinting needs--a hungry, fast, young guy to shake things up and make everybody better. Hopefully he's got some character to go along with his speed.

What Else wrote:

I can't wait to see what this guy can do when he loses the football weight and focuses on sprinting full time. Such an incredible talent.

I saw him yesterday and he already looks like he has lost some weight. If he could run 10-flat while focusing on mainly on football and weighing 190, then if he can get down to 170 he'll be scary good.

Yeah, but weight in short sprinting is a funny thing...I don't think it's the same huge factor that it is in distance/mid-distance.

For sure nobody should be carrying extra fat or water.

But when you get really strong and really powerful, there is a fine "edge" that you achieve, which you NEED body mass to have. To get that last 1%, you need to carry around that "extra" 10-20 lbs.

That fine edge manifests in power--that is why Demps can power his way through races right now. Whether the benefits are offset in the last half of a 100 depends on the particular runner you're talking about, and what kind of a race they individually run.

In Demps' case, I don't think he has that much to lose.

If he had the fine edge at 190, it would be super-easy for him to lose 5-10 lbs just by not doing quite so many weights...water loss, mostly. That gets him to, say, 180.

Yes, I know that F=ma in a newtonian world. Whether 180 can retain enough of the 190 to make it worthwhile remains to be seen...170 or 175 would be an even bigger gamble.

I'm predicting around 177-181 as a good balanced weight for Demps, knowing essentially nothing about him except that his body seems to be like mine.

It will be really interesting for me personally to see what happens if he DOES get down to under 175!

I think he'd feel depleted and weak at 170--and in the 100, "feeling" weak is BEING weak.

Yeah, but weight in short sprinting is a funny thing...I don't think it's the same huge factor that it is in distance/mid-distance.

For sure nobody should be carrying extra fat or water.

But when you get really strong and really powerful, there is a fine "edge" that you achieve, which you NEED body mass to have. To get that last 1%, you need to carry around that "extra" 10-20 lbs.

That fine edge manifests in power--that is why Demps can power his way through races right now. Whether the benefits are offset in the last half of a 100 depends on the particular runner you're talking about, and what kind of a race they individually run.

In Demps' case, I don't think he has that much to lose.

If he had the fine edge at 190, it would be super-easy for him to lose 5-10 lbs just by not doing quite so many weights...water loss, mostly. That gets him to, say, 180.

Yes, I know that F=ma in a newtonian world. Whether 180 can retain enough of the 190 to make it worthwhile remains to be seen...170 or 175 would be an even bigger gamble.

I'm predicting around 177-181 as a good balanced weight for Demps, knowing essentially nothing about him except that his body seems to be like mine.

It will be really interesting for me personally to see what happens if he DOES get down to under 175!

I think he'd feel depleted and weak at 170--and in the 100, "feeling" weak is BEING weak.

What Else wrote:

I can't wait to see what this guy can do when he loses the football weight and focuses on sprinting full time. Such an incredible talent.

I've been saying that since Demps had his hamstring surgery, then I was saying it again after Urban Meyer left and a more traditional offensive set was going to be put in place. I was just HOPING that Demps would forgo this previous football season and really really see what he could do on the track. I hope he just melts faces this year. I'll definitely be at UF track meets to see it for myself.

How much he can make in track is probably equal to how much he could make in the NFL.

Right now he was projected as a 4-6th round pick. He has unbelievable speed but his size and strength are not what they need to be for a RB. He could be a great hybrid back/slot receiver, for example Darren Sproles, but he's looking at a league minimum contract for 2 years if he gets drafted. If he doesn't, he most certainly will sign as an undrafted free agent.

He has a pretty high talent ceiling of course in the NFL but his career in track is a sure thing.

Not only is he a bit small for a RB, his lateral motion isn't exactly eye-popping. Chris Rainey cuts a lot harder and quicker than Demps does.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Yeah, but weight in short sprinting is a funny thing...I don't think it's the same huge factor that it is in distance/mid-distance..

Really? Having extra weight in sprinting isn't as bad as in distance running? Thanks for this ground breaking piece of information....