Usain Bolt in Atlanta

[Not A Serious Person]

Usain Bolt is in Atlanta for the Superbowl.

He has been retired from running for two years and admitted he is out of shape (currently 32).  And in long sweat pants and sneakers (no spikes) he ran a promotional 40 and tied the all-time NFL combine mark of 4.22 on his first and only attempt.

https://247sports.com/Article/Super-Bowl-Usain-Bolt-NFL-Combine-40-yard-dash-fastest-time-128599690/

Think about this the next time they say a NFL player has world class speed.  If you compared them to the speed of a real top sprinter, they would look slow.

[GooooMarquette]

Usain Bolt is in Atlanta for the Superbowl.

He has been retired from running for two years and admitted he is out of shape (currently 32).  And in long sweat pants and sneakers (no spikes) he ran a promotional 40 and tied the all-time NFL combine mark of 4.22 on his first and only attempt.

https://247sports.com/Article/Super-Bowl-Usain-Bolt-NFL-Combine-40-yard-dash-fastest-time-128599690/

Think about this the next time they say a NFL player has world class speed.  If you compared them to the speed of a real top sprinter, they would look slow.

Pretty sure Bob Hayes and Willie Gault had legit world class speed in their respective eras....

[Not A Serious Person]

Pretty sure Bob Hayes and Willie Gault had legit world class speed in their respective eras....

Doesn’t this prove my point... two players in the last 50 years is all you could come up with, and none in the lifetime of most posters.  Why not mention Jim Thorpe?

[Pakuni]

Wait ... so you're saying the fastest sprinter in human history, a guy with extraordinary natural gifts combined with a couple of decades of targeted training for these kinds of runs, is a faster sprinter than football players?
Whoa ...

[JWags85]

Usain Bolt is in Atlanta for the Superbowl.

He has been retired from running for two years and admitted he is out of shape (currently 32).  And in long sweat pants and sneakers (no spikes) he ran a promotional 40 and tied the all-time NFL combine mark of 4.22 on his first and only attempt.

https://247sports.com/Article/Super-Bowl-Usain-Bolt-NFL-Combine-40-yard-dash-fastest-time-128599690/

Think about this the next time they say a NFL player has world class speed.  If you compared them to the speed of a real top sprinter, they would look slow.

That’s not entirely fair.

1) you’re talking about the best sprinter of all time who made other Olympic medalist sprinters look slow.

2) some of those guys who got the “world class speed” label were running sub 10.5 100m times in HS. They focused on football and not sprinting, but with that natural ability they could 100% have become Olympic caliber sprinters. Some of those guys that play at SEC schools and dabble in the top track programs at places like UF or LSU usually run at Olympic Trials too

[tower912]

In other words, some football players are almost as fast over 40 yards as the greatest sprinter of all time.

[Not A Serious Person]

In other words, some one football players  (Joe Ross) are is as almost as fast over 40 yards as the greatest sprinter of all time two years after he retired, is out of shape and running it one time only in pants and not wearing spikes.

fixed

[Pakuni]

The point you're trying to make is the ultimate 'duh.'
Would you also be stunned to learn that a world-record holding speed skater can skate faster than Connor McDavid? Or that an Olympic high jumper can leap higher than Zach LaVine?

[GooooMarquette]

Doesn’t this prove my point... two players in the last 50 years is all you could come up with, and none in the lifetime of most posters.  Why not mention Jim Thorpe?

No - it disproves your point that football players don't have world class speed.

Two obvious guys off the top of my head...just like you came up with the greatest sprinter of all time and act as though he is the only guy with "world class" speed. Hundreds of sprinters were at the Rio Olympics or had times fast enough to qualify - all with world class speed, none as fast as Bolt.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

No - it disproves your point that football players don't have world class speed.

Two obvious guys off the top of my head...just like you came up with the greatest sprinter of all time and act as though he is the only guy with "world class" speed. Hundreds of sprinters were at the Rio Olympics or had times fast enough to qualify - all with world class speed, none as fast as Bolt.

Including former Lions running back Jahvid Best who qualified in the 100m. 

[tower912]

https://www.gridironstuds.com/blog/the-fastest-40-yard-dash-ever/
   

Timing has evolved over the years.    My points are that (A) Bolt is the fastest man of all time.   Good on him running a 4.22 in sweats and sneakers two years after his last race.      (B) I would expect him to be faster than football players who don't make sprints their primary focus.   (C)  Some of these football players have 'world class' speed. 

[Not A Serious Person]

From the link Tower had above ...

During his World Record 60 meter run of 6.33, a mark that still exists, Maurice Green crossed the 40-yard mark at 4.18. Remembering that .25 seconds must be subtracted from that time due to Accu-track timing and you come up with a 40 yard dash time of 3.93 seconds.

The NFL starts the timing when the player crosses the starting line.  Track & Field starts it with a gun so you have to back out the reaction time.

I think you will find that most of the Olympic finalists are sub-4 in the 40 (and probably doping, but so are football players).

Also, the fastest 100-meter time in NFL history was by Jeff Demps that ran a 10.01 in 2008, faster than Bob Hayes 10.05.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Demps

To put this in context.  You need a 10.10 time to even qualify for the World Championships or Olympics. 

25 sprinters were faster than Demps in 2018 alone.

https://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior/2018

He is also the 157th fastest sprinter ever.  To repeat, the fastest NFL player ever (who was a marginal player that played in a handful of games) is the 157th fastest sprinter ever.

https://www.iaaf.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/100-metres/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&timing=electronic&windReading=regular&page=2&bestResultsOnly=true&firstDay=1899-12-31&lastDay=2019-02-02


I guess it depends on the definition of "world class" but most of the times that NFL players put up make them marginal to even qualify for the Olympics. And if they did, they exit in the early rounds.  Yes, if some of them focused only on sprinting they would be faster.  But as pakuni suggested, true world class sprinters are far ahead of NFL players ... Bolt's time and how he did it shows that.  Remember that he is retired so dozens of current top sprinters can easily beat his time.

[Not A Serious Person]

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/05/olympic-sprinter-christian-coleman-nfl-john-ross-usain-bolt-40-yard-dash-412-seconds-tennessee-video

Olympic sprinter shows up John Ross' Usain Bolt challenge by running a 4.12 40-yard dash

Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick John Ross said over the weekend that he could beat Olympic legend Usain Bolt in the 40-yard dash. Ross, as you may remember, shocked many at the scouting combine with his record 4.22-second 40-yard dash.

Well, Tennessee sprinter Christian Coleman has already shot down that claim. Coleman, who was a member of the U.S. men’s 4×100 Olympic team in Rio, showed Ross and the rest of the NFL that it doesn’t take a Bolt-caliber sprinter to smoke the speediest 40 times in the NFL.

In a video with Tennessee, Coleman demolished Ross’ record time with a 4.12-second 40-yard dash of his own.

There’s nothing wrong with Ross’ confidence, but these world-class sprinters train with running short-distance events specifically in mind. NFL players are great athletes in their own right and are certainly better at football-related movements than a sprinter, but there really isn’t a comparison.

It didn’t take Usain Bolt to prove that Ross wouldn’t stand a chance against him in a 40-yard dash. Coleman did it for Bolt.

[TinyTimsLittleBrother]

I guess it depends on the definition of "world class" but most of the times that NFL players put up make them marginal to even qualify for the Olympics. And if they did, they exit in the early rounds.  Yes, if some of them focused only on sprinting they would be faster.  But as pakuni suggested, true world class sprinters are far ahead of NFL players ... Bolt's time and how he did it shows that.  Remember that he is retired so dozens of current top sprinters can easily beat his time.

Oh I get you now.

You’re the annoying guy at the bar who makes all of the obvious points because he thinks it makes him look smart.

[wadesworld]

Oh I get you now.

You’re the annoying guy at the bar who makes all of the obvious points because he thinks it makes him look smart.

Where have you been?  It's Heise, it's what he does.

[StillAWarrior]

Well, I see that my planned response has been well covered.