Originally posted by seminole4life1:
Originally posted by GE Nole:
Originally posted by seminole4life1:
I don't think I could ever break 5. Now... I'm still in good shape but I'm 30 and haven't sprinted in years... 5.5?!
People really don't realize how fast 4.5 is- I would be willing to bet big money not one person on this board was ever able to run a sub 4.5 electronic timed 40.
I haven't posted in months--and wasn't going to in this thread--but this comment forced my hand. First, let me say I completely agree that most folks have zero clue of how fast a 4.5 40 really is, especially electronic timed. I remember football players coming out to track meets in college thinking they were hot stuff, only to be absolutely dusted in 60m and 100m dashes. Track speed and football speed are wayyyy different.
Having said that, I was a sprinter in college and I did in fact run sub 4.5 electronic in the 40.
My best high school hand time 40 came at the Wake Forest football camp in 2002. It was a 4.38.
We didn't run many 40 yard sprints in college because everything in track is meters. However one time sophomore year after practice we set up an electronic timer at 40 yards just to prove a point to a few DBs from the football team (this was at an ACC school, not FSU). I ran a 4.43
My best 60 METER sprint with electronic timing was 6.98. However, 60 meters is 66 yards. Calculate that down into 40 yards and you get 4.23. BUT, that's not an accurate representation either because the last 22 yards are done almost entirely at top speed. So this throws off the calculation of what the initial 44 yards were.
Most likely, my best electric timed 40 at my peak college ability (early junior year before I was injured, not after practice, etc.) was somewhere in the 4.37 - 4.40 range.
As for now...I'd say hand timed it would be in the 4.70 range with electronic somewhere near 4.9. I don't work out anywhere close to "often."
You are Kermit running 4.37 side by side... That must have been tough watching him break that 100 yard kick return knowing you had that same speed back in the day, it could have been you!!
I believe you that you were fast (4.5 - 4.6 is crazy fast), you started to lose me when you said your peak time would have made you the 3rd fastest WR in the 2014 combine or 2nd fastest WR at the 2010 combine...
I was never big enough to have a serious career in football. I was strong, but just couldn't put on mass. I'm 5'8 (really more like 5'7 3/4 if I'm being honest) and the MOST I've ever weighed in my life was 163 a few weeks before I got hurt junior year in college. I could have played some D1AA ball if I wanted to, but I much preferred running track at a big school than playing football at a small school.
Also, it should be pointed out that a sprinter's peak is not achieved very often. How often does a sprinter set a PR? Once a year, MAYBE? Sometimes it's once every few years. Even Usain Bolt doesn't run a 9.7 at every meet. Running my peak means in perfect conditions, with me in perfect health, with no nerves, and perfect race execution. You know how many times I ran that 6.98 in the 60? Once. Had a bunch in the 7.01, 7.02, 7.04 range. Had a couple 6.99s. Had one 6.98. Those guys at the combine get two chances to run a 40 yard dash with all kinds of nerves, pressure, and whatever else going on. Maybe they are sick? Maybe they are hurt? Maybe they bulked up too much and cost themselves a tenth of a second? Maybe they slipped on their start? Sometimes people on here need to think just a little bit longer about what they are actually saying before they respond. The word chosen was not "average." I didn't say, "On a decent day." I said PEAK, as in best ever.
As for WRs in general--or 98% of all football players for that matter--they don't know how to run on a track. Kermit is an obvious exception, as is someone like Marvin Bracy or Xavier Carter if you want to go back to someone who was my contemporary. But those guys are track stars playing football, not football players running track.
Football players, by and large, carry too much weight and are not flexible enough to be elite sprinters on the track. They also have abysmal form. Folks who haven't sprinted at a high level think you just do some training for a few weeks and go out and run as fast as you can. That's FAR from the truth.
An elite sprinter is honing their running form for years. In college, we literally watched film every week. Film of our start. Film of our drive phase. Film of our transition phase. Our coach measured our stride length and then calculated the number of strides I should be taking over 100m if I was executing all phases of my sprint to perfection. Many of these NFL WRs COULD run faster 40s, but they would need to:
1. Lose weight
2. Increase flexibility
3. Increase core strength
4. Train for years
I don't feel any bitterness when I watch other elite sprinters. You get pretty humbled when you line up next to Xavier Carter, execute the best start of your life so that you have a step and a half on him at 15meters (X-Man was a notoriously poor starter), and then helplessly watch him catch you, pass you by, and then pull away over the last 85 meters. There is no teammate to pick up your slack or make the tackle. It's you vs another man vs the clock.
I was a solid college sprinter. I was All-ACC Honorable Mention on a 4x100 team. I was never going to see anything other than Walter Dix's back as he pulled away in races. It didn't matter how hard I trained. So no, no bitterness watching Kermit do his thing against Auburn. I had my time and enjoyed it. Watching Kermit was pure bliss as the team I love took the lead in a National Title game.
