David Wilson might be retired from the NFL due to recurring neck injuries, the former hokies and Giants running back still wants to compete on track .
http://virginiatech.247sports.com/Bolt/Former-New-York-Giants-RB-David-W...
Does David Wilson have any shot of achieving success as a professional track star?
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"David Wilson the tract star?"
I'm a little concerned about this. What tract will he be starring in? The digestive tract? Neural tract? I just don't know if I'm comfortable with that.
In all honesty, I say he should go for it. We all know he was blazing fast, and I think David is the kind of guy who can achieve a whole heck of a lot if he just puts his mind to it.
He would excel at racing greyhounds.
You know, where they chase the mechanical rabbit.
Anybody who catches rabbit for fun can be a professional track star.
I think this is the best situation for him. Russell Wilson played professional baseball for a season before he transferred to Wisconsin to play college football so I think David would have one more year of eligibility left to run track at VT. If I was him, I would come back to Blacksburg, finish my degree and compete in the ACC for one season. Afterwards, try to make it as a track star and if it doesn't work out, fall back on my degree to do something else.
Russell Wilson technically played for a farm team. I'm not sure if that's technically considered professional baseball or not.
That's professional baseball. He made over $350K a year while under contract, if memory serves. All minor league teams are also professional, just as NBDL is in basketball, or Arena Football teams are in football. They don't pay a lot all the team, but they are professional teams.
I believe he has exhausted his eligibility. He has 5 years from the day he enrolled at VT to remain eligible. David was a freshman in 2009, so his eligibility would have ended in May of 2014.
I am not sure what the potential impact of the jolting from the triple jump could have on his neck and spine. But, if there is no risk he certainly is capable of numbers where he could compete and be competitive.
The only issue would be $$$. To be a professional pretty much means living in Europe. Does he want to live overseas?
Given a 300-500k/year salary, I think he'd be ok with it.
Not much impact on the spine from the triple. Knees and lower back take the brunt.
High jump is a different story.
The world record is 18.29 metres (60' 1/4") which is about 7 feet more than Wilson's best, so he's got a ways to improve. Since that record is held by Jonathan Edwards from the UK who in my opinion on first glance seems unlikely to hold any type of record, dropping forty pounds might be Wilson's best bet to extend his range. Can you imagine a skinny, albeit sinewy, David Wilson? He might be catching birds in the sky.
It would be great for him to recover from leaving football. Can you imagine David Wilson, Olympic gold medalist?
I want to see him on Ninja Warrior. That freakish athletic talent and competitive drive should not go to waste.
He would dominate.
Fan or not of the Ninja Warrior competition, it would be a way for him to showcase his skills. It could lead to opportunities like owning a gym and training a variety of athletes.
he would have spend a fair amount of time to train for it, the question is - does he want to invest the time into training for ninja warrior, or does he have something else in mind?
All this track talk reminds me of Percy Harvin. He actually considered a career in track instead of football after high school. I don't know diddly about track, but it can be very lucrative, apparently. And nobody is likely to want to beat on you, at least. I guess with endorsements and such, it is a good gig.
It's a lot harder for field stars to get lucrative endorsement deals. The runners have the best deals. If he can do decathlon, he'll get a better deal than a field athlete, but still not as good as a runner. Obviously, there are exceptions, but that's generally how it goes down.
Pulled this out of wikipedia on Harvin:
Harvin was also a standout track athlete at the Virginia Beach (VA) Landstown. He became the first athlete in 69 years to capture five state titles at 2005 Virginia Class AAA state meet, winning the 100 meters, with a time of 10.69 seconds, 200 meters, with a time of 21.59 seconds, long jump, with a leap of 7.15 meters, and in triple jump, with a leap of 14.50 meters. He captured the 2005 Virginia Class AAA indoor title in triple jump, with a leap of 14.70 meters. He also won the 2004 state title in long jump as a sophomore with a leap of 7.14 meters.
And:
His personal bests are 10.43 seconds in the 100 meters, 21.19 seconds in the 200 meters and 7.40 meters in long jump.
Anybody that knows Wilson's numbers or knows track can compare. Also, thinking about it yesterday I remembered that it was the shoe endorsement deals that made the track world go 'round. I believe I remember there was a guy making a million a year from that from conversations I had back then - just not sure.
A quick search on hokiesports found his Track & Field profile personal bests:
Indoor:
60m - 6.86 seconds
LJ - 7.23 meters
TJ - 15.78 meters
Outdoor:
100m - 11.01 seconds
LJ - 6.89 meters
TJ - 16.2 meters
Man, I'm betting Wilson's actual 100 m time would be well under 11 seconds, especially if he trained for pure speed.
But nowhere near world class unfortunately.
That's true, but I don't think anyone is talking about him becoming the next Usain Bolt. I checked yesterday and believe Jonathan Edward's (the current triple jump record holder) best 100 m time was a respectable 10.48 (again probably not training specifically for it). I recall well and personally Dennis Scott from Tech's 70's teams (and a member of the Hokie Hall of Fame) who ran a 9.4 100 yarder at the Penn Relays (which translates to about 10.4-10.5 for 100m) and my feeling from watching Wilson is that he is probably no less fast and most likely much much quicker. I don't know, but if he's motivated it might be possible with some weight loss and specific training Wilson could get close to or even push 57 feet which would make him very competitive at many meets around the world.
Does anyone know if college sprinting events are electronically timed? Everyone talks about David Wilson having "elite" speed, and he's certainly always looked like he's running fast when I've watched him play, but at 11.01 in the 100m, he would've been around the 4th fastest guy on my high school track team, which just doesn't seem right.
I'm pretty sure that those numbers came when he was carrying football weight/muscle. If he lets himself slim down some, he can potentially improve on these numbers.
11.00 100m is solid. There were a handful sub 11.00 at the state meet this year, but most of them were wind aided.
Now, a sub-11 split in the 4x100 is common place, especially when the team is clocking :42-:43 times.
No, I'm not talking splits. I distinctly remember one of the guys I went to high school with running a 10.54 in an open 100m, and there were several more who ran sub 11.00, but they were all hand-timed.
Yeah, there's a kid from TC Williams that clocked a 10.52 this year at the VA State meet. He should be going somewhere on a track scholarship!!! There are a few kids that can get down there, but not many.
(To age myself, I got to run at the same meet with Jermaine Lewis who played for the Ravens...he posted a 10.54!)
If the NAIA is electronically timed, I guarantee you that D1 is electronically timed.
I guarantee you that D1 is electronically timed.
You can say that again.
I was just saying that the second time because I know a lot of people don't know what the NAIA does. It's really not a thing that comes with a whole lot of benefits for having knowledge about it.
Good to know. It all makes sense now.
Former Giants & Virginia Tech RB David Wilson to pursue Olympic dream in triple jump
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/08/david-wilson-giants-nfl-olympics-triple-...