"All NFL Wide Receivers can break 50 sec in the 400m"

Joe Staley, offensive lineman for 49ers 21.9 200m school record in high school. We're talking an o lineman here.

You are talking a huge % of NFL speed position players ran track. I love lists but that list too long for me.

Bad Wigins wrote:

ummm..yes wrote:

If you have the right fast-twitch genes

BUSTED. In this day and age, if you think a trait is genetic, scientists can collect samples (such as from sprinters) and identify the fast-twitch genes easily. Which genes are they?

you're BUSTED for a douche post.

I'm not a geneticist. It's possible I got my genetic science assumptions wrong in my post about muscle types. But my point stands and every single person except maybe you understood it just fine.

Even if it's not 'genetic' it's at least partially determined at birth. Does the distinction matter in the context of this discussion?

If you want to feel good about yourself I have a much of papers for you to grammar check though. that should give you a lift.

Sort of surprised this post got as big as it did, but it's interesting to see all of these different view points even though I think some of you guys are foolish for thinking most of the NFL WR can break 50 on the drop of a dime!!

I want to see what you guys all think in more of an orderly fashion so I made a poll on my twitter that you can vote, feel free to do so

https://twitter.com/RooseyProject/status/1162102732691398656

Star wrote:

If you scheduled a meet next week, I doubt any of them would break 400.

Not without at least 6 weeks of specific training.

I find that hard to believe. There were two 49 second guys on my son's high school team last year. One was a junior 10.65 sprinter and the other a 1:53 800 guy. There are a lot of 10.65 guys in the NFL and maybe only a few, if any, 1.53 guys.

If a high school junior can run 49 off only sprint training surely there are guys in the NFL that can run that time.

ummm..yes wrote:

Still think so? wrote:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Ci6ULhS8d2ctW6UMA

umm....yes.

running a 23.5 is about akin to dunking a basketball. It's a decent mark of athleticism but not exceptional by any means.

Take a look at some of the people that can dunk. If you have the right fast-twitch genes you don't need to be in shape to run 23.5 or dunk. If you don't have those genes, you sure as hell aren't going to be playing wide receiver in the NFL.

Quite ridiculous. The amount of athleticism it takes to dunk a basketball varies depending on height and wingspan. I also know plenty of amateur guys that can dunk and are not very fast running up the court and they aren't tall guys either. It's preposterous that I'm even discussing this on Letsrun boards as the majority of you don't play basketball regularly and only know of guys that played basketball and likely ran track. The amount of guys that can dunk and never even played in high school is much higher than you think.

I don't think all NFL WR can break a 50.00 at a drop of a dime, but I do think all of them with a few weeks getting into that distance would be able to run a 49.99.

Most these guys have ran some track.

ummmmmmm.....that was exactly my point.

this board is full of non-athletic slow twitchers.

Not very people on this board can dunk so they equate it with some great feat. It's not. It's decent.

Same with running a 23.5 200. It's decent.

I could dunk and run a 24.00 200. I doubt i'm athletic enough to even walk on as D3 WR let alone NFL. That's my point.

ummm..yes wrote:

Still think so? wrote:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Ci6ULhS8d2ctW6UMA

umm....yes.

running a 23.5 is about akin to dunking a basketball. It's a decent mark of athleticism but not exceptional by any means.

Take a look at some of the people that can dunk. If you have the right fast-twitch genes you don't need to be in shape to run 23.5 or dunk. If you don't have those genes, you sure as hell aren't going to be playing wide receiver in the NFL.

I cannot be the only reader/poster on let's run who happens to know specifically how hard NCAA D-1 Am. football players train. Some of you here on let's run brag how great of NCAA D-1 runners you are/were. Did not some of you cross paths with Am. football players at your universities? What's all this natural talent crap? None of you posters saw: 5am weight training sessions, 10pm weight training sessions and optional (mandatory) summer physical conditioning courses?

The responses in this thread are comical and clear proof that hobby joggers and D3 wannabes should not be posting anything about elite athletes. We'll tolerate your nonsense in "help me break 25 5K" or "sub-3 marathon" hobby threads, but why don't you stay out of threads that discuss actual athletes.

I owe my D1 career at a top program to the simple fact that most football players did not run track. D1 football players are far and away the most physically gifted and talented athletes of any sport. It's not even close.

I did the whole AAU/USATF thing when I was young and in HS and competed with/against the inner-city kids. They were blazing fast. I was a 1:50 800m guy and still I would constantly come across many kids who would blow me out of the water in the 200m and 400m. Fortunately, most of these kids ended up playing football.

In my D1 team, we had several football players who ran track. They blew me out of the water in the 200m and 400m workouts on the track. I didn't even get a sniff at running the 400m at an actual meet. I did weight training with the football players. They were physical specimens. Absolute beasts. I was a full scholarship athlete and still I was in awe of just how fast and strong these guys were. And this is D1. Only the cream of the crop of this batch of physical specimens make it into the NFL.

So LOL, just LOL, at the concept that an NFL wide receiver cannot break 50 seconds. Sure, they may need 2-4 weeks of endurance training. But after that, it's not a matter of them break 50, but how close to 45 they get.

Just in case it isn't clear yet - the most physically gifted athletes in the USA play football. All other sports get the rejects.

jyyt wrote:

I find that hard to believe. There were two 49 second guys on my son's high school team last year. One was a junior 10.65 sprinter and the other a 1:53 800 guy. There are a lot of 10.65 guys in the NFL and maybe only a few, if any, 1.53 guys.

If a high school junior can run 49 off only sprint training surely there are guys in the NFL that can run that time.

All these hobby joggers on LRC seem to think that 50seconds for a 400m is fast and is some kind of meaningful threshold, probably because they think running 50 seconds will let them walk-on to a D3, maybe D1 team. LOL! It's actually quite slow and requires a talented HS runner very little effort to achieve.

You were doing great until you got to this bit about running a 45 400m. Yes a 47-49ish is very real for these guys, but it does end there, trust me very few footballers were capable of running a sub 46.00 400m, been about half a dozen of them in the 100 year history of the NFL.

I'm totally with you about everything but that.

Exactly. They pretty much all work hard.

And of all those incredible hard-working athletes the best, most talented 2% make the NFL. WRs are in the fastest 10% of that 2% that make it. And people think that they can't beat an average varsity HS sprinter over 200m? huh?

Whatley wrote:

You were doing great until you got to this bit about running a 45 400m. Yes a 47-49ish is very real for these guys, but it does end there, trust me very few footballers were capable of running a sub 46.00 400m, been about half a dozen of them in the 100 year history of the NFL.

I'm totally with you about everything but that.

That's why I said "how close to 45 they will get." Hitting 49 will be no problem for most NFL caliber WRs. A few will get very close to 46 or maybe even under. I know for a fact that many D1 football players ran 45/46 in college before turning pro, not to mention the numerous D1 football players who ran in the

and

before turning pro. These are blazing fast kids at D1, and they only get faster in the NFL.

ummm..yes wrote:

Still think so? wrote:

https://images.app.goo.gl/Ci6ULhS8d2ctW6UMA

umm....yes.

running a 23.5 is about akin to dunking a basketball. It's a decent mark of athleticism but not exceptional by any means.

Take a look at some of the people that can dunk. If you have the right fast-twitch genes you don't need to be in shape to run 23.5 or dunk. If you don't have those genes, you sure as hell aren't going to be playing wide receiver in the NFL.

I ran 23.5 as an 800m runner at the age of about 16.

It's not fast.

I'm sure wide receivers would nearly all be in the 22s range or faster. These guys don't just run now and then, they train to run fast like a sprinter and they do far more sprint training than any distance runner here had ever done.

For the ignorant, just look at the types of training these ballers do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3UFlvcQRVc

Look at how ridiculously fast their feet are, how much sprinting they do. It's all incredible, but start watching at 4:30 if you want to have your mind-blown. Lol at these guys struggling to run a 50second 400m - that's like HS amateur hour.

Sorry but that simply isn't true that's why you can't name any college 45/46 footballers.

Yes we have seen....

Travis Hannah

Pat Johnson

Ollie Matson

Ted Ginn Jr.

Robert Smith

Glenn Davis

In that/46 world but that took 100 years of football.

A 45/46 is not what is actually going on for college footballers.

Rattle off a few names and I'll...........sorry my bad.

Speaking of my bad,, I forgot Robert Woods, Alvis Whitted, Darrel Green.

Whatley wrote:

Sorry but that simply isn't true that's why you can't name any college 45/46 footballers.

A 45/46 is not what is actually going on for college footballers.

Rattle off a few names and I'll...........sorry my bad.

This was discussed in several prior threads:

First, we have to recognize that FEW NCAA D1 football players are running the 400m in college. The ones that do cross-over into T&F are focusing on the 100m and 200m or certain field events. But I stand by my point that if these 100/200m guys spent maybe 2-4 weeks building up just a bit of endurance, they would easily break 50 and end up somewhere around 48.

Just in case you're curious, I'm just going to copy some names of football players who ran in the 45.xx in college:

44.94 - Rod Jones (CB, SMU - Tamba Bay/Cincinnati, 146 g)

44.98* - Larry Jones (DB, Truman St - Washington/San Fran, 51 g)

45.17 - Travis Hannah (WR, USC - Houston Oilers, 37 g)

45.38 - Patrick Johnson (WR, Oregon - Balt/Wash/Jkv/Edm, 70 g)

45.69 - Scott Turner (DB, Illinois - Wash/SD/Denver, 101 g)

45.73 - Robert Smith (RB, Ohio State - Minnesota Vikings, 2 Pro Bowls)

45.76 - Ed Hervey (WR, USC - Edmonton Eskimos, 2x CFL All-Star)

45.88 - Alvis Whitted (WR, NC State - Jacksonville/Oakland, 122 g)

45.91 - Johnny Thomas (DB, Baylor - Wash/SD/Clev/Phi, 94 g)

Yes, times below 46 are very rare, and I certainly will not say it is common, since 45/46 is a VERY fast time. But 47-49 are bread and butter dime a dozen times.