David Wilson was forced to prematurely retire from the Giants and the NFL at the age of 23, and when he bid adieu last August, he was tearful but resolute, stating, “I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me or pity me.”
Clearly, Wilson has paid heed to his own words.
One door closed on Wilson, but he opened another. He’s now a triple jumper, with an eye on the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“I mean it was sad to hear it, but at the same time it’s not sad enough to give up,’’ Wilson said Thursday in Midtown. “Football is like one part of one thing I wanted to do in my lifetime. Don’t live for one thing. I feel like when people live for one thing, most of the time you’re not living. You should have plenty of reasons for living, and plenty of reasons to wake up every day and work for something.”
Wilson is certainly working for something. On Saturday, he makes his professional track debut, competing in the triple jump at the Adidas Grand Prix at Ichan Stadium on Randall’s Island. The event will be televised on NBC.
“My goal is to make the Olympic team in 2016,’’ Wilson said. “This meet is just to get my feet wet and start my pro career in New York, where one of my pro careers ended. That was the thought process, and I was like ‘Why not?’ ”
His pro career with the Giants came and went in the blink of an eye. A 2012 first-round pick out of Virginia Tech, the anticipation was Wilson would become a breakaway running back. But he played in only 21 games — all 16 as a rookie and five in an injury-shortened 2013 season. He suffered a neck injury in his second season and the resulting examinations found that he has spinal stenosis. He was advised to give up football.
“Well the initial process was ‘what’s next?’ when I got the news,’’ Wilson said. “All right, what can I do now because I’m only 23 years old. After that, I went home and thought about stuff that I was good at. And then I thought about track.’’
Wilson, who turns 24 on Monday, was a national triple-jump champion in high school and he finished sixth in the 2011 NCAA Championships. Wilson’s personal-best triple-jump distance, set in 2011, is 16.20 meters. His goal for Saturday, he said, is 16.40 meters.
“But also, I made a little promise to my pops — 55 feet [16.76 meters] for Father’s Day,’’ Wilson said. “He’ll be happy regardless.”
Wilson’s goal is to qualify for the USATF Outdoor Championships June 26-28 in Oregon.
As a running back, Wilson was a muscular 210-pounder but his track training has him down to 189 pounds — still significantly heavier than most elite triple jumpers. He said most of the other competitors are between 140 and 170 pounds. “So I’ll be the heaviest guy on the runway for sure,’’ he said.
Wilson is one of 10 athletes entered in the triple jump. One of them, Will Claye, is a 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the triple jump and Wilson’s training partner.
Wilson said he keeps in touch with several of his former Giants teammates and expects receiver Rueben Randle — “One of my best friends,’’ he said — to attend the meet on Saturday. Wilson has moved on from football, but that doesn’t mean he does not miss it.
“Every day,’’ Wilson said. “Me missing football is like you being in love with a girl and she breaks up with you. It’s different if you didn’t really want her anymore and you broke up with her. If she broke up with you, you’re going to think about that daily probably, like what could have been with that girl. So that’s what football is like to me.”