-
Brady HendersonESPN
RENTON, Wash. — Most of the Seattle Seahawks‘ veteran players are back at team headquarters this week after staying away for much of the voluntary offseason program.
For DK Metcalf, that means being back at his day job after his head-turning foray into track and field. The Pro Bowl wide receiver ran a 10.37 in the 100 meters at a USA Track and Field event last month, a better performance than some expected but not good enough to meet his goal of qualifying for Olympic trials.
In his first comments to reporters since his post-race interview, Metcalf hinted that he may give it another shot down the road.
“My goal was to try to qualify for the Olympic Trials but who knows what my future holds,” he said Tuesday. “I’m living everything day by day, taking it day by day and right now I’m just focused on football and OTAs.”
Metcalf said he follows USA Track and Field on Twitter and will be keeping up with the upcoming trials. His interest in the event was sparked when USATF’s account tweeted a light-hearted invitation for NFL players to test their speed “against real speed” at the Olympic trials. That tweet was a day after Metcalf’s instantly-famous chase-down of the Arizona Cardinals‘ Budda Baker last October.
“Once they sent the tweet out, I thought it was an open invitation for me to take it and I went with it,” Metcalf said.
Metcalf spoke with coach Pete Carroll and new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron at least once a week leading up to his participation in the USATF Golden Games and Distance Open, adding that the Seahawks were behind him “100 percent.” Linebacker Bobby Wagner, vice president of player engagement Mo Kelly and equipment director Erik Kennedy attended the event in Walnut, California.
“I thought it was a marvelous challenge that DK took on,” Carroll said last month. “DK’s a very special individual and it would take a special person to even think about doing that.”
The commonly cited time that Metcalf would have likely needed to run in order to qualify for Olympic trials was 10.2 or better. But Metcalf’s time of 10.37 was generally considered impressive given that he’s much bigger (6-4, 235 pounds) and much less experienced than the professional sprinters he was competing against.
The most surprising thing Metcalf learned in his sprinting endeavor?
“That those are some fast human beings,” he said. “They are very fast and very good at what they do, and I’m going to stick to football for right now.”
Metcalf, Wagner and quarterback Russell Wilson were among several Seahawks who reported Monday for the team’s seventh of 10 OTAs. Seahawks players released a statement in April saying they would not take part in voluntary in-person work this offseason. But with mandatory minicamp scheduled for next week, the team’s leaders recently decided to show up for the final week of OTAs..
A handful of veteran players — including safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, left tackle Duane Brown, running back Chris Carson, receiver Tyler Lockett and defensive end Carlos Dunlap — were not seen at Tuesday’s OTA. Metcalf said more players will arrive this week.