Saturday, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill returned to the sport put his name on the map 11 years ago — track and field. And he picked up where he left off, winning the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships 60 meters in the 25-29 age group. He posted a time of 6.70 seconds, the 213th fastest 60 meters in the world this year, and he did so wearing a Coffee Trojans singlet.
Hill finished his senior football season as a relative unknown. Then track season came around and he was an unknown no more. After a stellar senior track season that saw him win two individual state titles and carry his Coffee Trojans to a state runner-up finish, Hill won a gold medal in the World Junior Championships in the 4×100 relay and bronze in the 200. He also nearly broke the national high school record in the 200 meters and was ultimately named the High School Athlete of the Year in 2012 by Track and Field News and an All American by USA Today.
The last time Hill ran the 60 meters in a track meet was in 2014 when he ran a 6.64. After Saturday’s race, Hill tweeted, “Never racing again had me out there looking wild.” If in fact he never races again, he will retire from the track as an age-group champion.
Though largely ignored as a football player in high school (he was a zero-star recruit), when the football world saw his speed on the track, they realized that they had overlooked a lethal gridiron weapon. Hill played two years at Garden City Junior College then a year each at Oklahoma State and West Alabama before the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Hill has played six years with the Chiefs and one year with the Miami Dolphins. He has made the Pro Bowl in each of his seven years in the NFL. For his career, Hill has caught 598 passes for 8,340 yards and 76 touchdowns. He also has 751 rushing yards and 1,389 return yards.