By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY —  It’s safe to say that 99.9 percent of young football players have never heard of Ollie Matson, a University of San Francisco athlete who won the bronze medal in the 400 meters, plus a silver in the 4×400 relay, in the 1952 Olympic Games held in Helsinki, Finland.

That was before Matson took the NFL by storm. One of the league’s early Black superstars, Matson, who was 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, rushed for 5,173 yards and piled up 40 rushing touchdowns, 23 receiving TDs and nine return TDs during his career. He’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Florida A&M football player Bob Hayes, 6 feet tall and 187 pounds, proved he was the world’s fastest human, winning gold medals in the 100 meters and the 4×100 relay. Once he became a split end for the Dallas Cowboys in 1965, Hayes dramatically changed the NFL game, with 371 catches, 7,414 receiving yards and 71 TDs in an 11-year career that eventually put him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Hayes is the correct answer to a trivia question — “Name the athlete who won a Super Bowl and a gold medal.” Beyond that unique claim to fame, Hayes is usually credited with bringing zone pass defense to the NFL because no cornerback could hope to cover him.

Speed kills, but for every Hayes and Matson, there have been dozens of superb track sprinters who could not translate their blinding wheels successfully to the football field. Hayes and Matson, both deceased now, are the only two sprinters who won Olympic medals and also entered the NFL’s Hall of Fame.

Renaldo Nehemiah was the world’s swiftest hurdler in the 1980s. He didn’t play college football when he was at Maryland, but the San Francisco 49ers signed him after a tryout, confident he could be the next Hayes. It didn’t happen. He wasn’t awful, but four TDs in three seasons wasn’t what the 49ers were looking for. When Jerry Rice came on the scene, Nehemiah returned to the world of track and field.

Salisbury receivers coach Ryan Watts, a former Catawba defensive lineman, isn’t old enough to remember “Bullet” Bob Hayes, much less Matson, but he is not surprised to hear the tales of sprinters and their struggles to adapt to catching passes in the violent world of football.

“There’s a lot more to being a good receiver than just being able to run fast,” Watts said. “A guy’s got to block, he’s got to learn to run routes, he’s got to learn the plays. He’s got to be able to catch the ball.”

Salisbury has a sprinter on the football team. His name is Jaylyn Smith. He may be the fastest person in Rowan County for 200 meters. He was second in that event, finishing an eyelash behind senior teammate Deuce Walker last spring in the Robert Steele Rowan County Championships. Smith was 25 percent of  Salisbury’s first-place relay teams in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400.

He can go.

A junior, Smith hasn’t played a lot of football for the varsity Hornets yet, but last week’s 37-16 victory Lexington may have been the breakout he’s been waiting for and the team has been waiting for. Lexington struggled to cover Smith and he had five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his TD receptions — one over the middle and one where he just sort of ran by everyone, were very nice catches. They weren’t average.

“We’ve known for a while that Jaylyn is a special athlete,” Salisbury head coach Clayton Trivett said. “We’ve been trying to find that right place for him. He’s getting better at running routes and catching the ball.”

Salisbury (8-1) may rely on the forward pass more than any team in the long and storied history of the program. Quarterback Hank Webb has broken school records for passing yards and TD passes in a season. Webb threw 38 times in the Lexington game. Yes, 38 times for 274 yards.

“Hank has been really good and he’s been putting the ball on the spot,” Watts said. “And we’ve got a good group of receivers. Macari House is close to breaking a couple of school records. All of our receivers are guys with something to prove, guys who have been waiting in line, but they realize that it’s their turn now.”

The Hornets have House who is making exciting grabs that Watts describes as “collegiate catches.” He had another one of those for a TD against Lexington.

Jay’lin Johnson is a big-play receiver with nine catches that have taken him to the house.

“He has those Randy Moss games,” Watts said with a smile. “Three catches for 80 yards.”

Josh Allen is Salisbury’s most physical receiver, the best blocker among the wideouts. Evan Koontz is a sure-handed guy who can make those third-down catches to move the chains.

Koontz could not play against Lexington. He was sidelined after banging knees with a defender. It was Koontz’s absence (the Hornets believe it’s short term) that provided Smith with the opportunity to shine, and he quite literally ran with it.

“I found out not long before the kickoff that I would be starting,” Smith said. “Coach Watts told me. ‘Ok, Jaylyn, you’re up.’ I went out there with the mindset that they couldn’t guard me, that they couldn’t run with me. I was confident I could catch the ball if I got a chance.”

Smith got chances. After his first catch, Webb’s trust in him grew, and he got more chances.

“That touchdown we had over the middle, I saw a hole in the defense, and then the ball was just right there,” Smith said. “Hank threw a great ball, and I snagged it and headed for the end zone. Great feeling. My mom and dad were there to see it, grandparents, little cousins, everybody. It was a great night.”

Watts said Smith deserves credit for not getting discouraged. He has never counted on speed being all that he needs. He’s worked diligently in practice drills even when he appeared to be stuck in a backup role.

“My experience has been that you reap what you sow,” Watts said. “He’s worked to make himself better, he’s really improved a lot, and now we might have a secret weapon.”

Whether the Hornets have found their version of Matson and Hayes, only time will tell.