University of Tennessee Athletics
No Off-Season, No Problem for Greer
August 22, 2003 | Football
Aug. 22, 2003
There was a time when athletes competed in more than one sport. They didn't have to choose a specialty before they chose a junior high school. The sport being played was dictated by the month on the calendar, and not by which sport could fulfill a zealous parent's vicarious dreams of a college scholarship.
For the Vols' Jabari Greer, that time is now. Greer is part of a Tennessee tradition that stands in stark defiance of the notion that a player can't be nationally competitive without sport-specific, year-round training. At least 11 former UT track athletes have gone on to play football on Sundays, most notably national champion hurdler Willie Gault, a standout receiver for the Chicago Bears.
Greer, a senior defensive back, raced to the NCAA indoor 60 meter hurdles title last spring, breaking Gault's 1983 school record. Greer, who is joined by defensive back Robert Boulware and receiver/defensive back Jonathan Wade on the track and field squad, helped the Vols score a second-place national outdoor finish in the 4x100 meter relay last year as well before turning his attention back to football.
"It's two different worlds," Greer said. "It's fun."
Risky business
Greer's agenda isn't risk-free.
"Football is a real physical sport and if you're not careful you can really bruise and bang yourself up coming into the track season," Greer said. "But I wouldn't do it any other way. I love football and I love running track."
Even coaches who recruit multi-sport athletes--and Tennessee's are among a select few--harbor a few doubts about a player's ability to maximize his potential in both areas. Greer has no such fears, insisting that his springtime NCAA title pursuits have made him a better football player.
"I feel like the success I had in track rolled over to football," he said. "It gave me the mentality that I can go out and compete against anybody in the nation. I can go out against the Andre Johnsons and the Donte Stallworths (current NFL receivers), some of the big-name guys, and really hold my own."
Making the transition
Speed is a ticket to the victory stand in either sport, yet it takes more than just pulling off the helmet and pads for a shutdown cornerback to challenge the nation's swiftest on the track.
"Track is full-speed bursts for 13 seconds," Greer said. "You maybe warm up two or three hours to run 13 seconds and in football, you warm up probably 30 minutes to play a good hour. It's a different kind of conditioning and you have to be in a different type of shape. Football is more endurance and more mental focus. Track is more quick-burst speed and more technique."
The task at hand
The off-season training regimen differs for each sport, but for Greer, there isn't much of an off season.
"I just focus on whatever I'm in," he said. "If I try to catch up to the Jones's in one sport, I think the other sport lingers behind. I wouldn't cut football short to practice for track during football season. I feel like I have to put all my focus on being the best that I could.
"It wouldn't be fair to my teammates. I'm just going to focus on the task at hand instead of something I could do well in the future."
The task of the moment is vaulting the Vols back into the SEC grid title picture, rather than deciding whether or not to use his final year of track eligibility in the spring.
"The only thing I'm focusing on right now is having a successful season with my teammates," he said. "I'm going out there and just having fun. I'll let everything else take care of itself."
Larry Happel
