I've heard that Danny Ainge ran the 800m in 1:56 as a high school student, as did Wayne Gretzky. Any other former track stars turned big dollar pro-athletes?
I've heard that Danny Ainge ran the 800m in 1:56 as a high school student, as did Wayne Gretzky. Any other former track stars turned big dollar pro-athletes?
Two Initials:
O. J.
Willie Gault...Renaldo tried...
Tyrone Wheatley-(Raiders)former running back at Michigan was big ten champ in the hurdles.
Wilt Chamberlain-no brainer
Willie Gault-(Chicago Bears 1985) former all pro wide receiver ran on the national 4x100 relay team.
I believe most elite athletes can perform relatively well on the track. I dont mean baseball players either. I am talking football, basketball, hockey, wrestling, soccer, etc.
A guy that played/plays for (I think-I'm not a football fan) the Falcons was a sprinter at Iowa or Iowa State. He actually went back to school in the spring to use up his last year of track eligibility (and presumably to finish his degree).
A lot of the NFL receivers were sprinters in college.
Tyrone Pool newly aquired Denver Bronco ran the 200m for Fort Valley State he was no slouch I beat some fast guys at the DII Nationals 20.7'ish.
Keyshawn Johnson ran on USC's track team 47.0 400m
I'm sure he anchored the mile relay"GIVE ME THE "D" Baton"
TIKI and KIKI Barber ran and jumped in H.S
Hershal Walker was also a 100m man!
That would be Tim Dwight....
Michael Timpson (WR for Patriots for many years, played 1989-1997) is the Penn State record holder in many different events, excelled at all sprint distances 100-400 and 110 HH. Santana Moss was an excellent short sprinter for Miami, and Qadry Ismail was Syracuse's best short sprinter too.
Herb Washington (Michigan State '72) was the indoor 60-yd record holder and became MLB's first and only professional pinch runner, and from what I read he was pretty good too.
Oh KIKI Barber And TIKI Are Twins one plays for the new your giants and the other plays fro the tampa bay bucs. I was looking through an old trank&field news and saw the high school rankings one of them jumped 24-25 feet in high school!
To be honest tons of pro's dibled around with track&field.
This not at all surprising, but Bo Jackson was a great sprinter at Auburn.
footballers are plentiful:
Michael Carter
Bob Hayes
Henry Carr
Jay Novacek
Herschel Walker
Richmond Flowers
Roosevelt Grier
I wonder about other sports...
Alvis Whitted, WR with the Jaguars, ran 10.02w, 20.04 and 45.88 while at N.C. State
Olympic 100 meter dash gold medalists Bob Hayes and James Hines both played football for the Raiders. Correct me if I'm incorrect, but I believe Hines was the first person legally under 10 seconds. He was also so bad at catching the ball that Madden called him "Oops".
Robert Smith, recently retired Viking, was a stellar quarter miler in high school, in the 46-47 range.
This could be completely false, but rumor has it Larry Bird could knock off a 36-37 minute 10k in his day. I can't imagine that would be very pretty... the Danny Ainge 1:56 Thesis is far more interesting however.
TJ Ducket (Atlanta Falcons rookie running back) was the best shot putter in the nation as a senior in HS (no slouch in the 100 either). I believe Ron Dayne was the same way.
Both used to run for the Notre Dame Track Team. Rocket in particular was pretty smokin fast. He could really tear down that Meyo track
The Danny Ainge thing is true. He was a stud athlete having also played baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays. Go here to see his career stats -
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/players/434/
Certainly he was not a great Major League baseball player, but at least he made the team, and you've got to be pretty good to even do that.
The Yankees Bernie Williams was a 45+ second 400 meter guy.
I heard somewhere that former NASCAR driver and current TV analyst Darrell Waltrip was once the Kentucky state record-holder in the half-mile (in the days before the 800m). Can anybody confirm this and does anyone know what kind of times he ran?