Is there any NFL player that could currently run a 4:30 mile?

Yeah, really no reason that in the entire NFL, there isn't at least one guy who could wing a 4:30. Those recievers and corners are doing a lot of running in the off season and some during season.

A handful of decathletes have run a sub 4 1500 at the end of a decathlon off of dec training. That's about a 4:16 mile for the fastest of them (3:58 1500).

Some guys in the NFL do almost as much running as elite dec athletes, so it wouldn't be a surprise if one of them ran 4:30 on the combination of training and good base level talent.

I bet if you had all the leanest, fastest guys in the NFL give their truly best effort in the mile, you would have a result from 4:30ish all the way back to 6:30 for the field.

By the way, there are 23 WRs and CBs in the NFL currently that are listed at 178# or less. Additionally, there have been 21 non-kicker players listed at 165# or less in the NFL since 1990. The smallest receiver in the NFL is a return specialist by the name of Jojo Natson who is 5'7", 153#. There are plenty of NFL athletes that are as small and lean as elite level middle distance runners, let alone middle of the pack high school runners. Heck, Phil McMullen (Paul's brother) ran 4:13 in the 1500 at the end of a decathalon (fresh, he is probably in the 4:05 range) at 202#. Look at a guy like Curtis Beach, 1:47.75 in the 800, ran a 3:59 1500 at the end of a decathlon (probably worth about 3:52 or so if he is fresh).

I stand by my statement. I ran under 4:30 my freshman year, it's not that fast.

Most HS kids with talent can do it, college kids can do it 6 times in a row, and who even cares about masters?

With that being said, with maybe 4-6 weeks of endurance training, some WR or DB could easily do it. Without specific training, Id think sub 5 is there limit.

Sdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:

Yeah, really no reason that in the entire NFL, there isn't at least one guy who could wing a 4:30. Those recievers and corners are doing a lot of running in the off season and some during season.

A handful of decathletes have run a sub 4 1500 at the end of a decathlon off of dec training. That's about a 4:16 mile for the fastest of them (3:58 1500).

Some guys in the NFL do almost as much running as elite dec athletes, so it wouldn't be a surprise if one of them ran 4:30 on the combination of training and good base level talent.

I bet if you had all the leanest, fastest guys in the NFL give their truly best effort in the mile, you would have a result from 4:30ish all the way back to 6:30 for the field.

I reached out to a local athletic trainer who has trained several NFL and D1 athletes. I asked him if he believed any nfl player could run a 4:30 mile. He said "they absolutely could, but would take some more specific training," he noted that a lot of db's and wide receivers have a track background and he knew some were mid 40 to high 40s in the 400, and most of those athletes didn't focus on the track other than March-May.

not a troll wrote:

[quote]Sdfsdfsdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:

Yeah, really no reason that in the entire NFL, there isn't at least one guy who could wing a 4:30. Those recievers and corners are doing a lot of running in the off season and some during season.

A handful of decathletes have run a sub 4 1500 at the end of a decathlon off of dec training. That's about a 4:16 mile for the fastest of them (3:58 1500).

Some guys in the NFL do almost as much running as elite dec athletes, so it wouldn't be a surprise if one of them ran 4:30 on the combination of training and good base level talent.

I bet if you had all the leanest, fastest guys in the NFL give their truly best effort in the mile, you would have a result from 4:30ish all the way back to 6:30 for the field.

I reached out to a local athletic trainer who has trained several NFL and D1 athletes. I asked him if he believed any nfl player could run a 4:30 mile. He said "they absolutely could, but would take some more specific training," he noted that a lot of db's and wide receivers have a track background and he knew some were mid 40 to high 40s in the 400, and most of those athletes didn't focus on the track other than March-May.[/quote

It’s exactly the talent that makes an NFL speed player so special that also makes them unlikely to run a 4:30 mile. At corner, or WR etc, you need to be so explosive and quick it’s ridiculous. It’s contrary to aerobic endurance.

So all you guys who said, we’ll i played football and ran a 4:29 mile. Well that’s exactly why you’re not in the NFL

I agree. Sprinting doesn't translate at all to running a fast mile. I'd say that at best there are a few guys who can break 5 but none who can get even close to 4:30.

I am close friends with a former NFL safety (not a big name but did have a ten year career). We play soccer together and while he is well passed his prime, and does not train at anywhere near the level he did when in the NFL, his athletic ability now is on par with college kids that are playing D1 right now (we play against them in the summer when they are home). You cannot even imagine how athletic people like him are unless you have actually stepped on a field with them. So of course I believe that there is an NFL player that could go sub 4:30 without months of specific training.

For context, my PRs are 10.8/49/1:49.

Bay Area runner wrote:

I agree. Sprinting doesn't translate at all to running a fast mile. I'd say that at best there are a few guys who can break 5 but none who can get even close to 4:30.

There are plenty of fast sprinters that eventually ran distance, the two are not mutually exclusive. I should know, I ran at state in the 200, 400, 800 and 1600 (winning state in the 800 and the region in the 1600) and also played high school football. There are a number of guys that were football players and 400 runners that went on to be good mile runners. There is no reason why someone who is a fast sprinter cannot be a fast mile runner.

Paul McMullen was a high school football player and ran sub 4:00 miles at 180#. Bryan Berryhill was a 3 time 400 meter state champion in Oregon, played high school football and was a sub 4:00 miler. Khadevis Robinson enjoyed playing high school football and only focused on running after breaking his wrist. He ran sub 46 in the 400, 1:43 in the 800 and 3:46 in the 1500. Coley Candaele quarterbacked his team to 3 CA state football titles and was a 4:06 1600 runner in high school. Nick Setta, professional kicker in the Canadian Football league, was an 800 state champion and 2 time team champion in cross country in high school. Ford Palmer was a 4:25 high school miler when he was also a 205# linebacker, he later dropped weight and was a sub 4:00 miler. Blake Shaw was a good receiver in high school (top tier Texas High school and had 3 receiving TDs on nationally televised games) and was a sub 4:00 miler in college.

I know you feel insecure about yourself and want to think there is something you can do better than a professional football player, but quite honestly, some of these guys are just freakish athletes and many of them could break your beloved 4:30 barrier.

Nice list but none of them were NFL guys. I've still got my doubts that any of them could run a 4:30 right now.

Wasn't Ashton Eaton's best decathlon 1500m something like 4:14? He would have struggled to break 4:30 in a fresh mile. If Ashton would struggle to do it, then I have a hard time believing any established NFLer could do it. You might be able to find me a rookie, underweight player who could do it. I can't imagine any starter or veteran doing it.

He ran 4:14 AT THE END of a decathlon, not while fresh. If you have ever done a decathlon or even a 1-day pentathlon, you would know that the time in your last event is not reflective of what you can do fresh. The two fastest decathlon 1500 meter races were 3:58 and 3:59 respectively at the end of a decathlon, which is insane. Curtis Beach's fresh 800 time of 1:47.36 and 1000m time of 2:23.63 indoors at the end of a heptathlon are mind boggling. The 2:23.63 converts to a 3:44 1500m.

One more for the list - Todd Harbour 3:50 mile runner also played and coached high school football.

Without a doubt the fastest guys in the NFL could run 4:30

Historically guys like Jerry Rice Deion Sanders Randy Moss rocket Ishmael all these guys could run 4:30

All we know for sure is that guys in the NFL have run 45 in the 400

I'd have to think anyone could run a 45 in the 400 it's probably looking at a 4:15 or 420

We're talking about guys who do a ton of running are an incredible cardiovascular shape and have the speed and strength

The only question is one of motivation if you gave them a day off from football sent the whole NFL to a indoor track and made it a competition for something meaningful you would get a bunch of guys running for 30 and I'm sure some of the very fast is running 4:20 maybe even faster

I don't see why they would need any special training to run 4:30

You're telling me the top NFL Runners aren't doing an incredible amount of cardio to keep at their very best

All of the fastest kick returners wide receivers and cornerbacks could run a 4:30 right where they are right now

Guys like Odell Beckham jr., historically guys like Deion Sanders Randy Moss Jerry Rice Darrell Green

Just with the normal training they do they could run 4 30. I'm shocked that guys would think that a Beckham jr. Or any of the fast guys like them couldn't run four laps at 107

These are guys who can easily run a 4748 400 you're telling me they can't pull four laps 20 seconds slower than that

Guys are really out of touch with how fast and what incredible conditioning NFL players have. These are guys who do hours of cardio a day. I'm sure they can run fast for a little over four minutes

There's quite a few high school girls who can run 450 so you think that the fastest NFL players would be slower than fast high school girls is kind of weird

Considering high school girls can run 440s it would be surprising if the fastest NFL players couldn't beat a fast high school girl

It would be a little more surprising it would be downright unbelievable

All the fast guys in the NFL are doing incredible amount of cardio and running

They're fast but they're also incredibly agile and have great conditioning

Guys like Odell Beckham jr. Could easily run 4:30

The only sure evidence we have is there a guys in the NFL who have clocked 4546 seconds at 400

I'm sure they could run 20 seconds slower and sustain that for four laps

1. NFL players don't do hours of cardio per day.

2. Whom are you trying to convince with all these posts? Yourself?

No just trying to add some reasonable points to the discussion

You really don't think the fastest cornerbacks and kick returners in the league could out compete high school girls in a mile

And yes they do do hours of cardio. You really think NFL players don't have to keep in top shape

Depends how much they going to be playing in the game but all of them do a good deal of cardio to warm up and cool down and at their practices

The point you're missing is that the question is could any NFL player do it

It's reasonable to believe that there's probably a few guys in the NFL who with just there current training could go to a track and run around 4:30. Especially if that's all they had to do for a day

Again some of the top kick returners who have to stay in incredible running shape and aren't that bulky but focus more on running and Agility. It's reasonable that these guys can run continuously at a high rate of speed for 4 and 1/2 minutes and cover a mile

I think a lot of people underestimate the amount of running that top kick returners and wide receivers and cornerbacks have to do to be able to Sprint real fast continuously over an NFL game. These guys are running on every play at a reasonable speed and while yeah it's 30 40 50 yards a play to be able to do that for a full game you have to be able to have a great bass line of overall cardio and running Fitness

Those who know don't say, those who say don't know. There has to be current or former college runners on letsrun who had college physical education courses with current or former NFL defensive backs and/or receivers. There has to be runners on letsrun who had classmates who raced sub-7:30 2400m in college PE class who later played in NFL.