Marquise Goodwin's pursuit to Tokyo Olympics ends originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Marquise Goodwin's journey to the Tokyo Olympics has been cut short.
Goodwin failed to qualify for the finals in the long jump at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon on Friday. Out of 24 jumpers, Goodwin finished 19th. The top 12 finishers will advance to Sunday's finals.
The wide receiver completed a best jump of 24-feet-10.
Before getting drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 2013, Goodwin qualified for the 2012 Olympics with a jump of 26-foot-7, finishing 10th place in the final round.
Recently, Matt Nagy praised Goodwin's Olympic mentality.
RELATED: Bears receiver Marquise Goodwin may be secret weapon for Matt Nagy
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"Everybody knows he has trained for the Olympics and anytime you have an Olympic mentality you are different,” Nagy said. “That’s a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour regime that you are keeping your body in shape. We were joking the other day that you see on the software services that we have on all these players, the data, you see their speed, and it has their speed locked in from when they were in college. Some of these guys 10 years later are 4.31, 4.37 (in the system) but really right now they are running a 4.58. I was joking with him and he said, ‘Coach, I’m faster now than I was when I came out.’ That for him, that’s never going to change.”
Goodwin would have missed time with the Bears had he been selected to represent Team USA in Japan. Now, the 30-year-old wideout can focus on getting prepared for the upcoming season in front of fans at full capacity.
Bears wide receivers coach Mike Furrey also raved about Goodwin and the speed he brings to the offense.
“Overall I see a young man who is a 4.27,” Furrey said.“If he's slow on one day he's going to be in the 4.3s. He still has the speed. I think when you go back and look at him two years ago, this young man was set to get ready to take off and become one of the most elite receivers in this league with his skill set."
There's a lot of offensive factors to keep an eye on this season, and Goodwin will be one of the most explosive players on the field.
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