Now Nelms is looking to earn a spot on 53-man roster.

"Cory's a jack of all trades," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "We play him at corner and safety. We've kind of focused him at safety here primarily lately. But he's played both corner, and you guys also know that he's played some wide receiver in the past. So he's trying to make this team primarily as a safety, but also as a jack of all trades."

Nelms still has a love for track and stays close to the sport through his, well, new love.

He said he reached out to Brown even before she arrived as a freshman at Miami in 2007, the two started talking, working out together and "it just went on from there." The couple lives together in South Florida. Brown, now 22, visits the Bay Area during football season when she's not running track, which should keep her busy through September.

The 24-year-old Nelms still misses the sport. Defensive lineman Demarcus Dobbs joined him to watch some of the Olympic re-runs at night last week, and Nelms said he had flashbacks to his track days.

"I told him like, `Man, if I wasn't playing football, I'd definitely be in London right now,'" Nelms said.

Nelms is too busy working on football to run hurdles anymore. He helped set up the course for Brown along with Miami track coach Amy Deem in the offseason, participating once just to see "if I still had it." He said Brown still can't beat him -- but it's getting closer.

"Yeah, I still got it," he said. "She's definitely a lot faster than when I left."

Nelms is just happy that defensive backs coach Ed Donatell approached head coach Jim Harbaugh to excuse the cornerback from practice to watch the hurdles finals. He said he hadn't had a chance to talk to Brown just yet but planned to wish her well -- and he believes she'll be a stronger contender at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.