Adrian Peterson believes that he can beat Usain Bolt

Of course he's an idiot!

But I'd still love to see a race.

If I were Bolt, I would do it...of course! There is absolutely no way, unless he tripped, that he could lose. ABSOLUTELY NO WAY.

His star would only rise higher than it has. He has beaten EVERYBODY in track--not just his contemporaries, but everybody in recorded track history. He can go no higher, unless he beats his own WR's, or he beats pretenders from outside track, and this (along with soccer and rugby) looks to have the best pretenders.

I would take it. It's not like he has to LJ against Dwight Howard or LBJ!

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Of course he's an idiot!

But I'd still love to see a race.

If I were Bolt, I would do it...of course! There is absolutely no way, unless he tripped, that he could lose. ABSOLUTELY NO WAY.

His star would only rise higher than it has. He has beaten EVERYBODY in track--not just his contemporaries, but everybody in recorded track history. He can go no higher, unless he beats his own WR's, or he beats pretenders from outside track, and this (along with soccer and rugby) looks to have the best pretenders.

I would take it. It's not like he has to LJ against Dwight Howard or LBJ!

I agree. It'd be great for t&f, and it'd shut up these NFL players who have no idea what speed really is.

8 athletes.

Usain versus....

Chris Johnson - NFL

Adrian Peterson - NFL

Michael Bourn - MLB

Ted Ginn - NFL

Jacoby Ford - NFL

Brian Habana - Rugby

Marvell Wynne - Soccer (10.39 in high school)

Bolt wins by .2, at least. Everyone stays with him through 40. Ford, Ginn, and maybe Johnson and Wynne hold on through 60-70 m.

Pay them all 100k for an exhibition. ESPN could make 10 times that if they air it and promote properly as a prime time, 30 minute special.

You'd need to set it up as a handicap race of some sort...straight up would be a joke - Bolt or any top guy in the world would annihilate any of these AP or CJ types over 100m. Only thing that would make this remotely interesting would be to make it a 50-60m race...hold it during Pro Bowl weekend or something like that to make an event of it.

Longines wrote:

You'd need to set it up as a handicap race of some sort...straight up would be a joke - Bolt or any top guy in the world would annihilate any of these AP or CJ types over 100m. Only thing that would make this remotely interesting would be to make it a 50-60m race...hold it during Pro Bowl weekend or something like that to make an event of it.

the thing is that all the pretenders as someone called them think they would win straight up. the public thinks they would win straight up. make it a true race and it will be anti climatic but meaningful. only then would people realize the other sports guys are fast but not bolt fast

You don't get to be a premier athlete in your sport by thinking that you can't do something. Those who are the best at what they do have always experienced the reality that they can simply will themselves to beat everyone else. Until someone is clearly better than you are you simply lack the perspective that you are not, in fact, superman.

Adrian is my favorite football player....That being said Bolt was in his teens and won the World Junior 200m. Track speed is faster than football speed and no football player could touch Bolt. But that doesn't mean Peterson couldn't be a legit track guy. After his season this year I believe he is a super human. So is Bolt though. boom.

I think Landon Donovan would give bolt a better race at 400m.

I think if AP trained for a full year or two, he could go 10.2/20.6/46 low.

Still nowhere close to Bolt in anything. Peterson should stick with his day job.

One SMALL issue....Peterson would have to submit to drug testing. Not the 'NFL testing the NFL' type testing but normal testing. Granted, he is probably on 2016 drugs already but most NFL guys still use the old stand-by stuff that USADA would easily catch. Unlike the stuff Bolt uses.

This will never happen. One positive test and his reputation is shot. He'd never risk it.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

I would take it. It's not like he has to LJ against Dwight Howard or LBJ!

Lyndon Johnson has been dead for about 40 years now so I think AP could probably take him.

He ran pretty fast when he ran for the Oklahoma University track team... but wait... I can't find any results.

he ran 10.3 according to wikipedia but it was wind aided. I don't think he could beat bolt but I sincerely believe he could make the U.S. olympic team. I think if this guy put his mind to it he could

Here is a cool idea. Select 8 guys. All 8 must be on a 53 man roster at the time of the competition. Bolt races all 8 individually over the course of a day, from slowest to fastest. The NFL guys have 4 weeks to get in shape. Some of them ran fast in college, but I am betting few could get below 10.3 in a month. Even Holliday, Ford, and Demps would have difficulty getting back below 10.10. But, with 8 races in a day, even taking the first 4 or 5 extremely easy, could Bolt falter in one of the latter contests?

You think a 30something Peterson could run 9.90 FAT?

RG3 was a very legit hurdler in high school and college. He was like .01 seconds off of the high school 400m hurdles record according to wikipedia and he did very well at Baylor in the 400m hurdles. I think he could do well in a flat race with a little bit of specific training.

I think they should just have Lemaitre race all the NFL guys who think they're so fast. Nothing will shut them up like being dusted by a skinny white French kid.

Lemairte was 17 in 2007. He ran a 10.5

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/france/christophe-lemaitre#progression

Chris Johnson in High School ran a 10.6

http://www.ecupirates.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/johnson_chris00.html

Now it is impossible to tell how good CJ would have gotten but he was definitely in the same ballpark. I also don't think he really trained in the winter. I don't get how this board can repeatedly ignore that these NFL backs are world class athletes. Adrian Peterson is of this caliber too.

Longines wrote:

You'd need to set it up as a handicap race of some sort...straight up would be a joke - Bolt or any top guy in the world would annihilate any of these AP or CJ types over 100m. Only thing that would make this remotely interesting would be to make it a 50-60m race...hold it during Pro Bowl weekend or something like that to make an event of it.

That would derail the concept of proving track speed is superior to NFL speed. Just imagine Jacoby Ford, or Chris Johnson getting a flyer and Bolt going out with his usual sluggish start. A race to 50m and Bolt could be in trouble.

Remember, these guys are brilliant at short distances. Even track guys have to respect that. Bolt would put ALL the distance on them in the last 50m NOT the first 50m.

If he won, wish i'm sure he would, it would be a small margin that would make the uneducated public believe any of those NFL guys could actually have beat him in a rematch or kept with him in 100m.