As the 49ers completed their walkthrough Wednesday, S Cory Nelms was holed up inside the team facility, his eyes fixated on a laptop.
It wasn't film study, it was much more important.
Nelms was excused early from the walkthrough to watch his girlfriend, T'erea Brown, represent the United States in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles at the London Olympics.
"It was exciting, you know what I mean?" he said. "Puffing out your chest and you don’t know what’s going to happen when that gun goes off. You’re just a spectator like everybody else."
Brown finished sixth -- third among Americans -- with a time of 55.07. Russia's Natalya Antyukh won the gold in 52.70.
To qualify for the finals, Brown, 22, set a personal record with a time of 54.21 in the semifinals. It was the second PR she set in London.
"I’m definitely proud of her," said Nelms, who had yet to speak with Brown since the race. "I’m sure she went out there and did her best. It’s been a long week, peaking two times back to back, that’s a lot on your body maybe that’s all she had this year."
The two met at the University of Miami, where they were teammates on the track team and Nelms was an accomplished hurdler in his own right. He placed first at the ACC Championships in the 60-meter indoor hurdles (2009) and 110-meter outdoor hurdles (2010) while at Miami.
Nelms was recruited to Miami to run track and walked onto the football team when he arrived. Had football not panned out the way it did, he might have pursued a career in track.
"I was actually talking to [DL Demarcus] Dobbs about that the other day when we were watching the reruns of the Olympics," Nelms said. "I told him, "Man, if I wasn’t playing football, I’d definitely be in London right now.'"
At the Rio Olympics in four years, Nelms expects Brown to be a threat to medal.
"I’m not going to jinx her or anything like that, but I definitely know she’ll be there and she’ll be in the running to get up on the podium," he said.
Follow 49ers reporter Kyle Bonagura on Twitter: @CBSSportsNFLSF and @KyleBonagura.
