he best running back in college
football spent the spring playing a
different sport. Jonathan Taylor, the
Wisconsin junior who set a freshman record
with 1,977 rushing yards in 2017, was also a
high school track star. He’d always hoped to
play a second sport during his Badgers career, but after
contributing so much in his first year of football—only three
running backs in the nation touched the ball more than
Taylor—he knew he needed to recharge and double down on
his football focus. When he was better as a sophomore,
winning the Doak Walker Award (which recognizes the
country’s best running back), Taylor finally figured he could
split his focus for a few weeks.
So he got permission to skip out on some spring practices,
heading instead to the Badgers’ track and field facilities. He
competed in the 4 × 100-yard relay at three meets, then took
a brief summer break. Now, before his junior season, he is a
Heisman Trophy candidate, and he’s as studious as he is
resilient on the field, combining elements of his track
training into his football routine.
“[I like] a lot of the different warmups for track,” Taylor
says. “There are a lot of hip-mobility warmups, a lot of
quick-burst drills that we do, in order to get the nervous
system going a little bit and to get those quick-twitch muscle
fibers going. I think it’s really important that I incorporate
them into my warmup now so that I’m ready to run.”
Taylor has also been known to take a yoga class, and
there’s no length he won’t go to in order to improve his
performance on the field—and to help the teammates
around him. Taylor recalls the encouragement he received
from his offensive line as a true freshman—“Don’t worry,
J.T., we have your back,” he remembers the linemen telling
him in his first game—and he’s far enough along in his
Already a prolific rusher, Wisconsin junior
JONATHAN TAYLOR tackled a second sport—
and sought advice from two of the school’s
gridiron greats—to take his game to
an even higher level.
DAVID STLU
KA
/W
ISCO
NSIN
ATH
LETIC CO
MM
UN
ICATIO
NS (TRACK); DAN
SAN
GER/ICO
N SPO
RTSW
IRE/GETTY IM
AGES (FO
OTBALL)
By
JOAN
NIESEN
T
10 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS
