Golden: Before two-sport stars Jamaal Charles and Marquise Goodwin, there was Eric Metcalf
First came Johnny “Lam” Jones.
Then came Eric Metcalf.
Neither was satisfied with just one vocation. Sometimes, a single sport just isn’t enough to contain all-out excellence.
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Lam is no longer with us, but the 55-year-old Metcalf is still going strong. He walks eight miles a day in his Seattle neighborhood and looks like he could still catch a couple of passes on Saturday afternoon in a pinch.
He was back in town for the Texas Relays but admits that his travel plans had to be altered a bit due to disappointing news on the Forty Acres.
“I thought I would be in Houston today,” Metcalf said Saturday, referring to Texas’ men's basketball loss to Miami that prevented the Horns from advancing to the Final Four. “Man, I thought we had them. I’m not over it yet.”
As the Longhorn legend strode onto the track at Mike A. Myers Stadium, several athletes walked up and extended their hands in quiet reverence as he caught up with Texas assistant track coach Greg Metcalf (no relation), who was his former boss when he was coaching sprinters at Washington.
'We're at 35 years and counting'
The current Texas tracksters — male and female — know Metcalf. They’ve heard the stories. They appreciate what he did while he was here. He’s still waiting to be publicly acknowledged at the Relays, where he says he experienced some of his most fun track memories.
Metcalf was an unassuming superstar on campus back in the late 1980s despite kicking plenty of butt in football and track and field. He is the owner of one of the longest standing records in school history. His mark of 27 feet, 8 1/4 inches in the outdoor long jump was set when he won the 1988 USA Track/Mobile national title in Tampa, Fla., finishing ahead of eventual Olympic triple jump champion Mike Conley.
“We’re at 35 years and counting,” he said.
In the spring, few college long jumpers got the best of him in his favorite event. One of the fortunate few couldn’t wait to bring it up on the track after a quick embrace.
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“I will always be undefeated against him,” said Texas track coach Erick Floréal, a longtime friend. “I came in here and beat him in his own house.”
Floréal was referring to the 1988 Southwest Conference meet at Royal-Memorial Stadium when he and Arkansas teammate Tyrus Jefferson jumped identical marks in the long jump to finish ahead of Metcalf, who placed fourth. The Hogs also left town with the team title.
Floréal went on to win five national triple jump titles before competing in two Summer Olympics for Canada, but Saturday’s conversation was all about long jump bragging rights over his buddy.
“I lost the conference title but went on to win a national championship that year,” Metcalf quipped between barbs.
It’s a nice motivational tool when a head coach is rubbing elbows with a legend of the sport, especially one that was electrifying in multiple sports.
“It’s always important,” Floréal said. “It’s hard enough to do one sport at a high level. When you’re looking at heroes and gladiators, he is one of the greatest we’ve had here. He set the bar real high for the others.”
'I was born 30 years too early'
By fall, Metcalf was one of the most versatile football players in America as evidenced by his 1,161 yards rushing while leading the Southwest Conference in punt return average at 13.5 yards. He’s fourth in school history with 5,705 career all-purpose yards and he’s the only UT player to post 10 games of 100 yards rushing and three 100-yard receiving performances. His 125 career receptions remain the most in school history for a running back.
Metcalf's skill set evoked comparisons to Hall of Famers Gale Sayers and Frank Gifford and a man near and dear to his heart, his dad Terry Metcalf, who played six seasons in the NFL and led the league in combined yards from scrimmage in 1975.
Priest Holmes and Jamaal Charles were multi-faceted backs who followed him at Texas and in today’s NFL, Christian McCaffrey, the prototype, has a very familiar skill set.
“I was born 30 years too early,” Metcalf said with a wry grin. “I see a lot of myself in him. I would love to be cashing his paychecks.”
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'He's a pioneer for guys like us'
Before Metcalf, Lampasas’ Johnny Jones was part of the U.S. 400-meter relay team that captured Olympic gold in the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. He then enrolled at Texas, where he earned All-SWC honors in football and track.
The two-time All-American was inducted into the Texas Hall of Honor in 2002 and is the only Longhorn to lead the team in all-purpose yards in four consecutive seasons. He cleared a path for Charles, an all-conference running back who was also a four-time track All-American, and for Marquise Goodwin, the speedy wideout who flashed some Metcalf-like skills with a 64-yard touchdown run and a game-winning 36-yard touchdown catch in his final college game, the Alamo Bowl win over Oregon State.
On the track, Goodwin matched Metcalf’s two national long jump titles (2010 and 2012) before finishing 10th at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. While Metcalf owns the outdoor long jump record, Goodwin set the indoor mark at the 2011 Razorback Invitational at 26-8½.
The four-time track All-American, who just signed a free agent contract with Metcalf’s old team the Cleveland Browns, also was at the Relays and posed for pics with one of his biggest idols.
“It’s awesome to have a relationship with a guy of his status with all he has accomplished,” Goodwin said. “He paved the way for guys like me and (Charles) and all the athletes who came after us. He’s a pioneer for guys like us. It’s a blessing to be compared and mentioned in the same sentence as him.”
Metcalf was good enough, but didn't pursue an Olympic dream. He played six of his 12 NFL seasons in Cleveland and is the only player in league history with more than 7,000 yards from scrimmage and 7,000 return yards. He’s on a short list of players who had two punt returns for touchdowns in two games.
Once described as a Swiss Army knife in an offensive coordinator’s tool box, Metcalf was ahead of his time. The No. 13 overall pick in the 1989 draft — the same class as Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, Deion Sanders and Steve Atwater — he did it all: 2,392 rushing yards, 5,572 receiving yards, 9,266 return yards and 56 total touchdowns, which includes a TD pass.
It’s still a mystery why he isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Metcalf takes it all in stride. Now retired from full-time college coaching, he does some private instruction on the side, occasional consulting for Nike along with being an all-around cool dad to this three kids. He and his bride of 25 years Lori have a daughter Mekeil and twins: daughter Misha and son Mekhi.
He’s happy in retirement and always excited to return to his old stomping grounds. He still keeps up with former competitors like Dallas’ Roy “Robot” Martin and Bay City’s Joe DeLoach, but loves it most when he can reconnect with current and former Longhorns. Home is home.
And it's always good to get a nod from the youngsters who still look up to him.
“I love coming back to the campus, especially for the Relays,” he said. “This is where it all started.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former Texas, NFL star Eric Metcalf returned home for the Texas Relays
