National Football League

Jarrin Solomon's Unprecedented NFL Journey

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Jarrin Solomon speaks easily and openly of the hyper-competitiveness that fuels him. Really, a few minutes spent chatting with Solomon provides a clear understanding of why this Olympic medalist, who competes internationally in track and field for Trinidad and Tobago though he grew up a soccer fanatic in New Mexico and is now, at the age of 30, all-but certain that his immediate and, if all goes as planned, long-term future lies on an NFL field, conducts himself the way he does.

“I’m probably the most competitive person you’ll ever meet.”

Boastful maybe, self-certain certainly, but it’s the kind of mindset you have to have when planning to attempt a feat so difficult, so rare, there are few historical precedents to which to even point for reference. Sure, plenty of players have made the leap to professional football from odd or steep and ultimately unlikely angles. But have any been into their 30’s, never having played a down of football at either the high school or collegiate levels, with only slight football-specific training and a handful of loose connections to their name?

So Solomon, were he to be successful, would represent a number of firsts.

“I’m a shoot-for-the-stars kind of guy,” Solomon told The Outside Game. “I don’t like to do anything just to say I went there. I want to be the story. I want to be the star.”

Solomon likes to shine, of that there is no question. But just like when he runs in the 4 x 400m, his area of expertise on the track, Solomon isn’t worried about times or ages or any numbers at all really.

He’s worried about the man in the lane next to him. About the man lined up across from him. The man tasked with beating him. The man trying to win over him. The man trying to take his spot. The man whose spot he’s trying to take. On the podium. On the field.

In life.

First Leg

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