World's fastest man runs a 4.45 40 at Tennessee Pro Day

[PonyExpress]

Justin Gatlin.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story;jses...0d5d806b4a39&template=with-video&confirm=true

It's pretty clear that the fastest and best athletes in the world are in the NFL, and the Combine is the new Olympics. Andre Johnson if he put his mind to it could probably win an Olympic sprint medal running backwards.

 

[tjones7]

Gatlin was on the juice and probably hasnt kept in that great of shape because he has been out of competitve sprinting for over 2 years.

I'm fairly certain that any of that of the top ten olympic sprinters would be the fastest guy in the nfl

 

[Hudson Pats Fan]

Are the 40's hand timed or FAT (electronically)? If they're still being done by hand that is rediculous. I just read something that states someone starts an electronic timer on the player's first movement. Does anyone know the whole setup and timing of the 40? IMO the 40 should be treated like a track sprint in that there is a starting gun wired to FAT system in order to get accurate times.

 

[ayjackson]

Some nice numbers that stand out for me were Brad Cottam's and Phillip Wheeler's 36.5" verticals. At 6'7.5", and at 36" vert, Cottam cannot be overthrown.

Mayo had a nice 40.5" vertical, at 237 lbs.

John Greco - at 6'5", 305 - had a 32 inch vertical. That's some nice explosion. If we don't take a Tackle early, I'd like to draft him in the 3rd and try him out at RG.

 

[OldEngland]

FWIW. The British sprinter Dwain Chambers was banned for using the anabolic steroid THG during the BALCO scandal, in the aftermath he tried out and got onto the Hamberg Sea Devils squad in NFL Europe.

"At 29, Chambers, a former European 100-meters champion, a bronze medalist at the world championships, and a former European record holder with a 9.87 time set back in 2002, is attempting to make the transition from the track to the gridiron. Chambers' personal role model in this effort is Renaldo Nehemiah, the world record-setting hurdler who had three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, coming out of gridiron nowhere to the Super Bowl.

..Chambers has that rare thing that scouts search for, and which cannot be taught. He's got speed. "When I first got into the idea of American football, I ran a 4.19 40," he says. Cue scouts' mouths to open wide and drool to appear."

A fatigue fracture in his foot ended his NFL Europe career before he ever played and he is now attempting to go back to the track.

 

[C32345]

Justin Gatlin.

It's pretty clear that the fastest and best athletes in the world are in the NFL, and the Combine is the new Olympics. Andre Johnson if he put his mind to it could probably win an Olympic sprint medal running backwards.

-Andre Johnson won the Big East 100m in 2002 in 10.29 according to Wikipedia. 10.29 is not really fast. There is a huge difference between 10.29 and 9.74 (the world record by Asafa Powell).
-Look at Trindon Holliday for example. He is considered the fastest man in (college) football, but hasn't run under 10 in the 100m. There is a huge difference between football fast and Olympic gold medal fast.
-The NFL combine 40 is stupid. The athletes don't have to respond to a gun, which makes the times about .24 seconds faster than they should be.
-Justin Gatlin is a drug cheat, like quite a few NFL players. The NFL mainly chooses to turn a blind eye to it except in a few situations (rodney harrison). Why is a drug cheat allowed to participate in a Pro day anyway?
-All that being said, the NFL has many athletes who were superb high school/college track athletes because of the importance of strength and speed in both. Vince Wilfork, for example, was a state champ in Florida in the shot and discus.

 

[Remix 6]

theres a difference between running out of the blocks and running a full 100 meters and just pushing off your legs with 1 hand up and running 40 yards.

Gatlin bein clean as well as preparation has a lot to do with it as well

go back to when he wasnt banned..i'd guarantee he would beat anyone in the 100 meter event

 

[Patsmaniac]

Bottom line is that there is not 1 nfl player who could run a legit 4.4 40. The olympic runners run on tracks not grasss and start in the blocks, which provide for an optimal start with the head down. The NFL 40 times are all a joke. Take them with a grain of salt.

I am a former track coach btw....

 

[ayjackson]

Bottom line is that there is not 1 nfl player who could run a legit 4.4 40. The olympic runners run on tracks not grasss and start in the blocks, which provide for an optimal start with the head down. The NFL 40 times are all a joke. Take them with a grain of salt.

I am a former track coach btw....

???

They are running 4.4's now and if they could run on track and from blocks they'd be faster, no?

 

[sebman2112]

???

They are running 4.4's now and if they could run on track and from blocks they'd be faster, no?

With or without the gun?

With the gun I believe a number of 40 times would be slower, as they currently start the timer on your movement. Also, a lot of 40's are already run on track surfaces.

 

[scout]

With or without the gun?

With the gun I believe a number of 40 times would be slower, as they currently start the timer on your movement. Also, a lot of 40's are already run on track surfaces.

When you say gun, is that to the head?

 

[sebman2112]

When you say gun, is that to the head?

I don't know, are you planning something?

 

[ayjackson]

With or without the gun?

With the gun I believe a number of 40 times would be slower, as they currently start the timer on your movement. Also, a lot of 40's are already run on track surfaces.

I agree, but he said they aren't legit and never mentioned anthing about guns, just that sprinters work on track and out of blocks. I was confused.

I know the delay in a proper sprint from sound of the gun to first movement that doesn't factor into combine times. I wonder if the time at the combine starts at first movement or if there is a reactionary delay (human error) there as well.

 

[Patsmaniac]

No the time is started at the sound of a buzzer going off. Most players start standing up, which is not optimal. They do this because it takes experience starting on all 4s(LOL). There is a lot of technique involved. Experienced runners run low with the head down and the head eventually coming up after 40 yards(at least in a 100m run.) This proper technique cant not be learned quickly but takes time. I would like to see a 20 yard dash and a 100 yard where halfway they are measured for top end speed. that might be an interesting way to gauge speed...

 

[NE_PATS_FAN_54]

Justin Gatlin.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/story;jses...0d5d806b4a39&template=with-video&confirm=true

It's pretty clear that the fastest and best athletes in the world are in the NFL, and the Combine is the new Olympics. Andre Johnson if he put his mind to it could probably win an Olympic sprint medal running backwards.

no, this doenst mean anything at all. the top olympic guys run their 40's in the 4.1-4.2 range. gatlin hasnt run competively in 2 years and was on the juice when he was running.

 

[sebman2112]

No the time is started at the sound of a buzzer going off. Most players start standing up, which is not optimal. They do this because it takes experience starting on all 4s(LOL). There is a lot of technique involved. Experienced runners run low with the head down and the head eventually coming up after 40 yards(at least in a 100m run.) This proper technique cant not be learned quickly but takes time. I would like to see a 20 yard dash and a 100 yard where halfway they are measured for top end speed. that might be an interesting way to gauge speed...

Sorry, but at the combine they start the clock on the athletes first movement. I know this for a fact, as the coach at the starting line tells all participants they are being timed on first movement, and explains that he'll stop the run, if he thinks they had a false start or movement. He also says you'll determine the start. Some of the false movements that he warns you about involve moving your arm after getting set, and dipping your truck (to get a drive) before you burst off.

 

[PonyExpress]

no, this doenst mean anything at all. the top olympic guys run their 40's in the 4.1-4.2 range. gatlin hasnt run competively in 2 years and was on the juice when he was running.

If Andre Johnson trained exclusively for track and not for football he would toast those piano players. BTW, all those sprinters are juicing.

 

[C32345]

If Andre Johnson trained exclusively for track and not for football he would toast those piano players. BTW, all those sprinters are juicing.

-I think that some NFL players (particulary in the skill positions) are pretty good track athletes (like Andre Johnson or Santana Moss who both won Big East titles at Miami; Reggie Bush I believe was like 3rd in the 200 in high school in CA), but that they aren't world-class (Again, Johnson is fast, but 10.29 is not world-class). I have doubts that they would become world-class with full-time devotion, but they obviously (and smartly) aren't going to leave being a Pro-Bowl player in the NFL to run track. I think you often found more mediocre (mediocre as in not probably making the NFL, but often plays somewhat on a good college team) football players like Xavier Carter and Trindon Holliday to a lesser extent that have exceptional track ability, which really helps them in football (they probably would not be playing D1 football without their speed). Often, they realize that they have a brighter future in track as they have a good shot at being national and even world-class in track while they have a slim shot at making the NFL.

-I personally think track does a better job getting rid of drug cheats than the NFL, but I think both could do better.