I see football and track like that couple you see holding hands walking in the park. They just look like they were both put on this planet for each other. The two sports fit together, like Ying and Yang, to balance each other and keep order. In many cases, the two sports may be what you are missing to get to the top in either sport. I competed in both sports from age 7 all the way to age 17. Up to this day I am still reaping the rewards now that I do not play football anymore.
The two sports run in opposite seasons as football is a fall sport, usually going from august and wrapping up around Christmas time, unless you are in the NFL of course. The indoor track season begins in January and ends in March, and the outdoor season is from April to august. Just looking at their seasons alone should show how well they match up.
Two sports require different mental attributes, physical attributes, and personality traits that both tend to cross over to the other sport very well. Even if an athlete only excels at one of the sports, a lot can still be gained. It is in the understanding and the respect that it takes to be good at one sport, that will make you a stronger athlete in the other.
What Track Can Do For A Football Player
Mental
- Different type of hard work to excel at track
- Learning to put responsibility on yourself because it is an individual sport
- Can work on your own self confidence
- After a long track season makes you hungry for contact in football
Physical
- Not as punishing to the body
- Learn how to apply your strength and turn it to power
- Track is a very technical sport and it will help you be technical in football also
- Speed is a huge asset in football
- Greatly Improved Acceleration
- Greater understanding of the body is needed in track
Personality
- Individual sports require a lot of self confidence
- Learn to use aggression as power instead of contact like in football
What Football Can Do For A Track Athlete?
Mental
- Begin to have a “seek and destroy” mindset
- Discovery that you can’t be scared of anyone
- Understanding that you can be ok as an individual but you can be great working as a team
- Things on the track will not faze you because you have been through much more pain on the field
Physical
- Football encourages a different type of lifting and training
- Size can be gained that can be beneficial on the track
- You learn to fight through injuries that in track you would call it quits on
- Side to side mobility from football helps decrease injuries in track
Personality
- Help individual sport athletes understand you still need a support team
- Takes away a bit of the ego
- Fear will become non existent
Ya, the two sports are definitely a match made in heaven, everything about them just fits. I have seen numerous athletes including myself excel at both of the sports. Up to this day when I am on the track I still think of a lot of the stuff football teaches. The farther you can go while playing both of these sports the more of a threat you will be and the more options you will allow yourself. Some people are big believers in specialization and that is fine. These are two sports that have benefits to each other that are not truly realized until you are like me and you stop playing one, or you make it to the NFL 
(original image by robert & daburfisaburf)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
sick site man..u guys have got it figured out
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
@James- Thanks for the compliment man, things will only improve from here.
@Simon- I know shame on the search engines man! But thank you very much for the compliment.
All football players should wrestle in the winter.
, o yea only about 40 go out for the wrestling team)
-Wrestling teaches mental toughness more so than football.
-Wrestling from the standing position is basically who can tackle who (have a defensive player practice tackling the whole winter and see how much better he is in the fall)
-Wrestling helps teach good hips which helps any ball carrier ie. backs, receivers, TE so they are better at stopping tackles (when one guy is tackling the other guy is sprawling trying not to be tackled)
-Wrestling will help lineman because before a take down is scored hand fighting is required to gain an advantage (hand fighting is exactly what they do on the line)
-Pound for pound wrestlers will typically be the strongest on the field
-Wrestling requires better conditioning than football (ask the 20+ kids that quit the team ever year cause its too hard
-Players that are stronger and in better shape have a reduced risk of injury
-And like track wrestling teaches and requires explosiveness
also check out some of the great football players who wrestled
Side note QBs should play point guard in basketball
-Same idea different sport
leads team, head up, ect.
Ray Lewis 2x high school state champ
Lorenzo Neal ncaa champ
Tiki Barber
Tedy Bruschi
Larry Czonka
Bo Jackson
Warren Sapp
Ricky Williams
So many more check out this list
http://www.sectiononewrestling.com/documents/nfl_players_wrestled.html