How freaky of an athlete was teenage Todd Gurley?? The Atlanta Falcons star ACCIDENTALLY qualified for Team USA Track and Field in high school!!!
The 26-year-old running back explained the whole story to NFL stars Cam Jordan and Mark Ingram on their "Truss Levelz" podcast on The Players' Tribune this week ... and the tale is WILD!!!
Gurley says he taught himself how to run hurdles while he was attending Tarboro H.S. in North Carolina ... and he got so good at it, one of his track coaches asked him to come down to Myrtle Beach, SC to run in a race.
"I'm like, 'All right, cool,'" Gurley said.
Turns out, the race was a qualifier for Team USA Track and Field ... and Gurley ended up winning it with damn-near no prep!!!
"I guess that was like the pre-trial for the USA team," Todd said of the race. "Bro, I did not know! And, I end up winning. And they was like, 'All right, you got your passport? All right, we 'bout to go to Italy for a whole week.'"
"I'm like, 'What?! Why y'all didn't tell me this?!'"
Gurley says he didn't place during his races with Team USA ... but he said the trip was super memorable -- and he's still pals with some of his teammates to this day!
As for his track career after that, Gurley said he got offers from Cornell and Princeton to bail on football and run for their teams -- and he says he SERIOUSLY considered it.
Todd obviously chose to stick with the gridiron, going to Georgia to play football instead ... and, given the dude's made nearly $50 MILLION in the NFL -- we're calling that a good choice!