When Michael Ray Garvin was eight, he beat his father, former NFL and USFL player Johnny Ray Garvin, in a sprint for the first time. That prompted a sit down.
"I asked him if he wanted to be a great player or just a good one, and he said he wanted to be great," Johnny Ray told The Post. "So then I asked him, 'How hard are you willing to work to make that happen?' "
Michael Ray answered by getting up two hours before school and working out at the Teaneck High School track. Garvin developed into a track and football star at Don Bosco Prep and then Florida State, where he was a key member of the three-time NCAA championship track team and a starting cornerback.
Garvin, a 5-foot-8, 180-pound radar blip of speed, won't be at this weekend's NFL Draft. He'll be running in the Penn Relays. He's a borderline draft pick, but he has two qualities that can't be coached: Garvin has run several sub-4.3 40s, and he'll work his rear end to make an NFL team.
"There's no sense in sitting around and watching the draft and getting nervous," he said. "I just want an opportunity."
