Just give them the damn ball

There's been talk this month (perhaps a little too much talk) of two disgraced sprinters making a go of it in the NFL - American Justin Gatlin and Dwain Chambers of Great Britain.

Chambers is a BALCO boy, the former European champion in the 100 meters who tested positive for THG in 2003. His coach was Remi Korchemny, who is currently under investigation for his BALCO ties. Chambers returned to track and field this past summer with some success, but reportedly wants to jump ship to the NFL. He joined an NFL Europe camp at the beginning of November with the hopes of getting a tryout in the U.S. for next season.

Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champion in the 100 meters and former world-record-holder Justin Gatlin had a workout with the Houston Texans this week. This past summer, Gatlin tested positive for excessive testosterone and agreed to an eight-year ban from track and field. Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, is a central BALCO figure, the inital whistle-blower of the whole sordid scandal. He is one of the dirtiest figures in recent track and field history and was banned, at long last, from USOC facilities in August.

The roids aside, these high-profile track-to-gridiron aspirations can't help but bring to mind the greats of the genre:

BOB HAYES
















Bullet Bob Hayes became the world's fastest man at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, winning the 100m in world-record time despite the fact that he was running in borrowed spikes and occupying a mangled lane one of the track. He signed with the Cowboys at the end of that year and went on to be an All-Pro wide receiver. He was a stalwart on the Cowboys Super-Bowl-winning squad in 1971, making him the only man ever to win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.


RENALDO NEHEMIAH
















Skeets Nehemiah was one of the greatest hurdlers in history, the first man ever to run the 110m hurdles in under 13 seconds. He held eight different hurdling world records but was prevented from winning an almost certain Olympic gold medal by the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games in 1980. In 1982, Nehemiah joined the 49ers, and he played with them for three seasons as a largely ineffective wide receiver. He returned to the track in 1986, retiring in 1991.


WILLIE GAULT

















Though Gault was never quite the track star that Hayes and Nehemiah were, he was a member of a world-record 4x100 relay team while at the University of Tennessee and he also would have gone to the Moscow Games as a hurdler if not for the boycott. Gault was drafted by the Bears in 1983, and played in Chicago until 1988, when he was traded to the Raiders. He was a dangerous wideout, a constant long threat, and a combustible kick-returner. In Super Bowl XX with the Bears, he had four receptions for 129 yards. And Gault's talents did not stop at track and football - he was also a performing ballet dancer, an Olympic-level bobsledder and a successful actor.