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Tim Whitfield stands on the Meeker High School Football field. Photo/Jake Usry
There is a new professional football player coming straight out of Lincoln County.
Meeker’s Tim ‘T-train’ Whitfield, pictured to the right, has become a part of Moline, IL’s Indoor Football League team, The QuadCity Steam Wheelers.
Whitfield graduated from Langston University this past year and became their all-time leading rusher and all-time leading scorer among other notable attributes. Before that he graduated in 2015 from Meeker High School, after breaking some pretty prominent records and establishing himself as a talented running back early on.
“I have the single game touchdown scoring record [at Meeker],” said Whitfield. “the single game rushing record (315 yards in one game) …and I also got an award for all conference. I was one of the best [running backs] that they had.”
Whitfield has been playing the game of football for most of his life and began with a church league when he was very young.
According to his Mother, Tiffany Hook, her son fell in love with football almost immediately. She believes that recently he has become even more passionate about it because during the COVID-19 quarantine he continued to train and workout on a daily basis.
The Indoor Football League is a new challenge for Whitfield because it’s quite different than what he’s used to.
“It’s different from other leagues…it’s eightman teams and is indoor,” he said.
“It’s not really a running back game. It’s more about passing…and it’s a shorter field; 80 yards instead of the usual 100. It’s nice because the team I’m on will run the ball which is a blessing.”
Whitfield was originally known for his power in high school and it was common for him to run straight through opponents.
“I was not as fast as I am now, it’s just that most of what I had was power,” he said. “What I could do was just run you over and get into the endzone. I was and still am a north-tosouth runner. If you watch Ezekiel Elliot, I’m a lot like that… That’s where my nickname T-train comes from.”
Whitfield signed his first professional contract on July 21 and is very excited to see what’s in store for himself next.
“It feels good signing a contract and knowing that if I do good in this league or have a stand out season at some point, then I will eventually be able to move up in to another league like a Canadian league or the NFL,” Whitfield said.
“Right now, that’s the goal.”