Hokies In (Out) The NFL: David Wilson To Return To Track And Field

I wasn't expecting to hear anything this quickly out of David Wilson's camp following last week's news that the New York Football Giants physicians recommended he quit the game of football due to nerve damage sustained in his neck/shoulder area. But it should surprise nobody that he is maintaining his usual positive outlook.

Per Yahoo Sports, the gifted track and field athlete has plans to resume full-time track and field training, most likely for the triple-jump where he placed sixth in the nation in 2011, when the Hokies won the ACC Track & Field championship. In order to accomplish his goals in Track & Field, he would need to convert some of his bulk into leaner mass, probably needing to drop 20 pounds or so for conditions to be optimal.

As he is untested professionally, and wasn't dedicated to the sport full-time while in Blacksburg, it's likely that he will need to go into events unaffiliated in order to gain sponsors. Until then, his own network of trainers and a modest amount of his own bonus cash can finance the efforts. It likely won't be long before he finds a home on someone's team and begins to compete for international competitions in earnest on somebody's dime.

Known for doing backflips to exhaustion, everyone should be prepared for his explosive athleticism and charismatic personality to take hold of a community that doesn't get much shine outside of the major world events, or rather not much more than a month of luke-warm attention each four years.

Even though former NFL-ers Willie Gault and Herschel Walker were never international world-beaters at the bobsled, they still brought an immense amount of attention to a sport nobody pays a second thought too except for the 100 or so runs down the track that NBC televises during the actual games.

That would be my aspiration: to be in the Olympics. To compete in track again and be in a field where I could be at a high, competitive level," Wilson said. "To be in that field again and maybe in the Olympics would be amazing."

Yes, we are still shackled by the VT RB NFL Injury Curse, but perhaps one of these "tragic" cases has found a workaround. Last week someone dropped off a case of lemons on David Wilson's doorstep, and as was his fashion, he is already selling lemonade in a shirt and tie at reasonable value (and profit margin) to the consumer by the following Monday.

Here is video h/t to SNY New York where David Wilson is interviewed about the future, as well as the charity he was out there at CitiField to support: