Florida running back Jeff Demps finally came to his senses.
Demps, who had pro football aspirations just two months ago, announced Thursday he has decided to put those lifelong dreams on the backburner and pursue a career in track.
Back in November, just days before Thanksgiving, Demps was asked by reporters about his future beyond UF.
If you’re selected in the NFL Draft, will you definitely go pro?
“Yeah, definitely,” Demps said.
Does that mean you’re going to blow off the Olympics in London?
“Yeah, I mean coming up, like the Olympics, it wasn’t there. I was always a football guy that watched football, and when I started running in high school, I started to look into track.”
Will you go to the Olympic trials regardless?
“I haven’t planned on it. All of my focus is on football.”
Do you plan to run track in the spring?
“I’m not sure. Probably not.”
Would getting drafted mean track is over for you?
“Yeah.”
Do you really intend to stick by what you said as a freshman, that you’re a football guy?
“Yeah, yeah definitely. I wasn’t lying about that.”
So your dream is the NFL, not the Olympics?
“Yeah, I was always a football guy first.”
But sometime between then and Thursday, Demps changed his tune — and he couldn’t have made a better decision.
While Demps was good at football, and would have undoubtedly signed with an NFL team, his potential in track far exceeds what he had on the gridiron. Demps was always fast, and he took advantage of it on the football field, sprinting past would-be defenders en route to 2,470 career rushing yards (eighth in school history) and 23 touchdowns in his four seasons.
However, during his college career, Demps never registered 100 carries in a season and had trouble staying healthy during his junior and senior campaigns. Both of those brought into question his durability and whether or not his 5-foot-7, 191-pound frame could withstand the wear and tear of an NFL season.
On the track, Demps is a world-class sprinter — not just an undersized football player who can outrun defenders. He is a five-time All-American who has run multiple sub-10-second times in the 100-meter sprint and won an NCAA title back in March — all while running at a bulked up football weight.
With his focus shifted to track, Demps will undoubtedly shed 10-15 pounds. When that happens, he can be scary-fast and become a legitimate medal threat at the summer games, should he qualify at the U.S. Olympic trials in late June.
Because his ceiling is higher on the track, Demps’ bank account will benefit more from the endorsements that can come from that career than one in the NFL.
Demps’ decision to pursue track also makes sense for his well-being in the long run. In the NFL, running backs have a short shelf life and take a lot of pounding, bringing the possibility of brain damage later in life.
Luckily, Demps didn’t have the sense knocked out of him during his four years on the gridiron; he showed as much with Thursday’s decision.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
