RENALDO NEHEMIAH : HE’S LOOKING FOR BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

As the world’s greatest high hurdler turned wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, Renaldo (Skeets) Nehemiah was a novelty.

But novelties wear thin. Nehemiah didn’t play much last year, and reporters stepped around him in the dressing room to interview Joe Montana and Dwight Clark, the pro football stars.

In a different uniform, that of a track athlete, Nehemiah wouldn’t have been ignored. So, it appeared, he had given up acclaim and recognition in one sport for journeyman status in another.

Soon, however, Nehemiah and other track stars who are playing pro football will probably have the best of two worlds.

A three-man panel of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the governing body for track and field, has voted to return amateur status to pro football players who competed in track.

The IAAF Council can declare eligible an athlete who competes as a professional in one sport, providing that the practice of that sport is of no direct help to any track and field athlete.

The arbitration panel concluded that football does not aid a track athlete, and its findings are expected to be rubber-stamped by the IAAF Council when it convenes next Friday in Athens.

Among those affected by the decision are Nehemiah, wide receivers Willie Gault of the Chicago Bears, Phillip Epps and James Lofton of the Green Bay Packers, Mark Duper of the Miami Dolphins, Ron Brown of the Rams, and Dokie Williams of the Raiders; running back Herschel Walker of the New Jersey Generals, nose guard Michael Carter of the 49ers, and defensive back Darrell Green of the Washington Redskins.

Nehemiah is the world record-holder in the 110-meter high hurdles at 12.93 seconds. He left track in 1982, saying he was disenchanted with the sport, perhaps bored.

“I was at the stage where I was my only competition,” he said.

But he has a different perspective on track now, and his attitude probably is influenced by the uncertainty of his football career.

“I can’t wait to get back,” Nehemiah said. “When I sit back and look at it now, I think my impact or value to a particular sport is far more greatly needed in track and field. Although it’s not an insult what I’ve done (switching to professional football), now that I’ve fought three years to get back into track, I’ve matured and I think I’ll make even a greater contribution.”

Nehemiah is in the final year of a four-year contract with the 49ers. He said that he will pursue both football and track for one year and then will concentrate on one sport.

“Common sense makes you realize that the two seasons overlap,” he said. “There is no way I could be equally proficient at both. There are unknowns that I have to deal with every year in football. In track and field, I know what’s ahead of me healthwise. So it will be football only, or track and field only.

“The body can take only one season. I know that at the end of January I don’t want to take another step for two or three months.”

Nehemiah was in the vanguard of pro football players who fought to regain amateur track status.

“The issue of amateurism vs. professionalism has never thoroughly been addressed, and there was probably no one who had my qualifications of being best in the world capable of taking that issue on,” Nehemiah said. “We figured that they (IAAF) would definitely have to take a look at me because it would be a precedent. Even if it took me to age 35, it could be said that I was the pioneer of it all and (reinstatement) happened because of me.”

But he and his attorney, Ron Stanko, ran into one roadblock after another after Nehemiah had joined the 49ers in 1982, presumably forfeiting his amateur status.

The word amateur is in question here. Liberalized rules now allow track athletes to accept appearance money, represent shoe companies, and make commercial endorsements as long as their earnings are channeled into a trust fund, from which the athletes can draw training and living expenses.

Coach Bill Walsh of the 49ers noted that Nehemiah probably took a pay cut when he signed with the 49ers. He wasn’t being facetious.

Considering today’s spiraling six-figure incomes for track and field superstars, that pay cut gets bigger and bigger for Nehemiah, who earns approximately $200,000 a year with the 49ers.

Runners World magazine reported that Carl Lewis earned $783,000 in 1984. Other reported incomes were $617,000 for Edwin Moses, $520,000 for Bill Rodgers and $420,000 for Joan Benoit.

“When I left track and field, everyone knew athletes were making money, but nothing like today,” Nehemiah said. “There was nothing left for me to do athletically and commercially when I was running. The trust funds were just coming about, and there wasn’t a clear understanding about it. Financial rewards were limited. But, as soon as I signed my 49er contract, the floodgates were opened.”

He doesn’t regret his decision, saying that money wasn’t his ultimate objective when he switched sports.

Still, it’s believed that if Nehemiah is anywhere near his pre-football form, he can earn $400,000 to $500,000 a year as a hurdler.

When he left track for the NFL after the 1982 indoor season, he clearly dominated his event. He was the best in the world from 1978 through 1981. No other hurdler has ever run the 110-meter race in less than 13 seconds, and there is no one now competing who has run faster than 13.03 since Nehemiah stopped competing.

He was the epitome of the flawless hurdler. He didn’t attack the barriers, he just poured over them like syrup.

He has five of the six fastest times in the high hurdles, and now it’s just a question of whether the hard knocks of football have blunted some of his ability.

“If anything (pro football) hinders a track athlete,” Nehemiah said. “I have had injuries to my eye and shoulder, and I also have had arthroscopic surgery on my right leg. That is my lead leg when I hurdle.”

He said he hasn’t done any hurdling, other than leaping over a tennis net, since he became a full-time wide receiver.

“But the sport changed so drastically within the year after I left that I would have a totally different outlook,” Nehemiah said. “I was trying to be the best in every way possible, and I was running to the point of exertion. I don’t think I have to prove that now. If I monitor my schedule and set up a certain amount of meets and stick by it, I’ll appreciate the sport and what it has to offer.

“Fortunately, my competition hasn’t improved that much.”

That observation probably won’t set well with Greg Foster, who spent much of his career chasing Nehemiah and now may have to contend with him again.

Unlike Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner, and Brown and Gault, who played football in college, Nehemiah had minimal football experience when he joined the 49ers.

He had been a high school quarterback in Scotch Plains, N.J., where he grew up, but he gave up football when he enrolled at the University of Maryland.

“I had just as many football scholarship offers as I had in track and field, even from USC,” Nehemiah said.

The 49ers brought him along slowly. He was used as a spot player his rookie year, occasionally getting into a game to go deep on a post pattern.

He caught only eight passes for 161 yards and a touchdown in 1982. He was used more extensively in 1983 with 17 receptions for 236 yards and a touchdown.

Nehemiah was used as a situation player again last year for the Super Bowl champions. Playing behind Clark and Freddie Solomon, he caught 18 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns.

Asked to evaluate his pro football career, Nehemiah said: “At times I was disillusioned. Considering what I could do as an athlete and how I perceived the 49ers’ interest in me, I thought I would have blossomed a lot sooner. If I had to do it all over again, I would. I just didn’t have the cards in my hands. I was playing behind great receivers. I don’t think it’s reflective of my ability.”

The list is long of track stars, with no football background, who have failed in the NFL. But Nehemiah doesn’t consider himself a failure.

“On the negative side, I’m upset because I have all this talent and haven’t been able to unleash it for three years,” he said. “My numbers haven’t been great, but I didn’t run into goal posts, or put my shoe on the wrong foot.

“I don’t measure greatness in numbers. I’ve taken hits and I’ve scored touchdowns and won games for us. My numbers don’t add up to what I wanted at this point, but I have a pretty decent highlight film.”

Nehemiah said he doesn’t know how he fits into the 49ers’ scheme for next season, considering that the club drafted a wide receiver, Jerry Rice of Mississippi Valley, in the first round.

“Bill Walsh called me and said the choice was not a reflection on my skills or abilities,” Nehemiah said. “But I had mixed emotions. I didn’t know whether it was part of business, or an indirect warning that if I hadn’t been training this (the draft) would be a motivational spur.

“Also, Bill Walsh has been such a fan and supporter of me that he wanted to make sure I didn’t get caught up reading what was written--that I was the guy they (press) singled out who was in trouble.”

It remains to be seen, though, whether Nehemiah will ever realize his ambition to achieve the status in football that he had in track. It seems that he is already leaning toward a commitment to track.

It’s different for Gault, a proven receiver, and Brown, who is already on his way to establishing himself as an NFL star. For them, the opportunity to compete in track again looms as a bonus.

Brown competed in the Summer Olympics and was a member of a world record-breaking 400-meter relay team. Then, he joined the Rams and became the club’s rookie of the year.

The former Arizona State wide receiver and sprinter didn’t start a game, but he caught 23 passes for 478 yards, a 20.8-yard average, and four touchdowns.

“I plan to run in the latter part of the indoor season and part of the outdoor season,” Brown said. “I have always competed in the two sports so that isn’t a problem. There will be plenty of meets, and I want to concentrate on the 100. My goal is to win.”

Brown, 24, who represents Puma shoes, said the shoe company plans to put together an NFL sprint relay team that will include himself, Nehemiah and Gault.

Nehemiah said that he would like to compete during the 1986 indoor season if the 49ers don’t extend the season into the playoffs, which is likely.

“If I’m not able to get into track shape quick enough after the football season, I won’t run indoors,” Nehemiah said. “I don’t want to come out struggling.”

If the IAAF Council approves the panel’s recommendation, as expected, the International Olympic Committee may follow suit.

“Juan Samaranch (IOC president) has been quoted that he wants professionals in the sport and thinks it’s ironic that track and field is an amateur sport, anyway,” Nehemiah said. “William Simon, who is president of our Olympic Committee, has always backed me. So we think our case is pretty strong to clear the way for the 1988 Olympics.”

Nehemiah was married Sunday to Patrice Theard, a USC graduate, who, he said, knows little of his track accomplishments.

“It’s a brand new thing for her,” Nehemiah said. “She’s more familiar with Tommy Trojan football. So I’m going to have to let her know what track and field is all about, the individualism of the sport and the contrast between track and football.”

Nehemiah also said that he has missed the media attention that was focused on him when he was breaking world records in track.

“My first year with the 49ers I was a hot item or commodity, but that scene diminished,” he said. “I’ve had my low moments because I wasn’t contributing a lot. I missed being on center stage.

“Knowing you’ve been the best in the world makes all that particularly tough to swallow.