Are ther any NFL guys that could go sub 10 in the 2 mile?

Jermaine Phillips who plays for Tampa Bay, I believe, ran 2400 meters in 6:15 when he was at UGA during a conditioning run. Could he have held that for another 800 meter? Who knows but I'd bet he could break 10:00 if he trained for it.

Ethan Farrell wrote:

I know a guy, a kicker albeit, who played football in college and still might be playing NFL Europe. He ran 1:52 and 14:46 for 3 miles in high school. So with the hundreds of players in the NFL, there is bound to be somebody who can break 10 minutes.

Nick Setta right? He was an incredible athlete. He could also high jump and hurdle. Didn't he also kick a 60 yard field goal in high school?

I find that pretty unbelievable. Can we have a source for that, or is it just one of those legends that's told so many times it becomes "fact"?

Killa Mike wrote:

Former Footballer wrote:

After getting into college, I got injured and had to focus solely on running, as opposed to multis. I dropped down to 175. I ended up running 46.4 in the 400, 1:17.3 in the 600, and 1:49.8 in the 800. And I still could only run 10:02 in the 2-mile. I never broke it.

Are you serious dude? Having run similar times(not the 400 in 46.3) at different stages of my career I'm inclined to think you are trolling, baiting the distance runner types:). Were you carrying your shot put and pole vault pole while running the 2 mile? I'm joking, but if that's true, it's an interesting perspective.

I wish I was kidding, it was a pretty sore subject, actually. Granted, the only time we ever did any sort of two mile time trial (usually twice a year) was during fall base-training... but nonetheless, I never broke 10:00 in college. Since then, I have ran a number of sub-17 5k's, and would like to think I would be able to do it at this point, but with that type of training I never could.

here comes a long rambling response....

Success at distance events usually requires one of two talents, genreally speaking. 1. The genetic talent of being built for the event, and 2. mental toughness.

The unique aspect of running, cycling, swimming is the that you have to push yourself. The 2 mile was hard in high school because it required you to push yourself harder than you think you can go with no other motivation than to see a certain on that clock. There's no guy trying to run you over. There's no ball to catch. You just have to go and go and go.

I've known plenty of guys who have the genetic ability to run a fast 2 mile fast, but never the mental toughness to commit to it. So, they found moderate success at football, soccer, etc.Likewise, I've known plenty of untalented people willing to endure the mental anguish of distance running. You'd watch them and think, "How the hell did they run that fast?"

Are football players built genetically for a 2-mile?

genereally speaking, no. Though, I'd imagine there are some that have the ability to do it.

Do they have the mental toughness that is required to succeed at a distacne event? may be not. The things that drive football players to run hard down the field may be very differnt from what drives the distance runner.

Then there's the aspect of training. They are working different muscle groups in very different ways.

Also, it's tough to compare across sports. Intuitively, you'd think Lance Armstrong would be a faster marathoner than 2:46. But he's not.

Intuitively, there should be some football players capable of runing sub-10, but I'd be skeptical of them actually doing so in reality.

A few points really need to be made...

first of all... THE KICKERS? Are you KIDDING ME? I think it's more likely that Matt Leinart could break 10 than any kicker in the NFL. How much endurance training would a kicker ever do? I'd be surprised if they do any at all! They are never in the game for more than two snaps in a row, and when they are in the game, all they do is run a yard or two and then kick! Absolutely HYSTERICAL to think that Sebastian Janikowski, Morton Anderson, or Martin Grammatica could break 10. Completely moronic.

As for the general argument... I think it is possible that there are a FEW guys - all receivers or DBs - who could barely break 10 right now. Maybe one guy per team, if that. It wouldn't surprise me if there were none. It's ridiculous to say that not a single NFLer could break 10 because of what people have already pointed out about the training of people like Jerry Rice. Receivers and DBs are very lean and in extremely good shape. Even the late great Walter Payton, a running back, ran legendary workouts up the levees of Mississippi. I guarantee you he could've broken 10 at the end of a summer of that kind of training.

BUT... it is equally ridiculous to think that it would be no problem for the majority of NFLers. Obviously, the only ones with a chance at receivers and DBs, and a lot of those guys are very big. Watch them jog over to the sideline. A lot of them do not look efficient at all. Sure, they can sprint way, way faster than I can, but when they run 8:00 pace over to the sideline, they overstride and look exactly like those basketball players who would run the 3200 for an inner city in HS and lope around to an 11:30. You know what I'm talking about, the ones that were always put in the wrong heat by their dumb coaches.

Tons of NFLers could run a MEAN 400. Plenty could run a very fast 800. A few of them could run a decent (sub 4:40) mile. But, I would expect a huge drop off after the mile. There is a big difference running very fast for 5 minutes and running very fast for 10 minutes.

The Bull wrote:

Jermaine Phillips who plays for Tampa Bay, I believe, ran 2400 meters in 6:15 when he was at UGA during a conditioning run. Could he have held that for another 800 meter? Who knows but I'd bet he could break 10:00 if he trained for it.

i call bullshit on that. you do realize that that is 62.5s for 6 laps. i want some proof.

Just about any top flight professional soccer player could do this. Soccer players are "real" athletes.

The Bull wrote:

Jermaine Phillips who plays for Tampa Bay, I believe, ran 2400 meters in 6:15 when he was at UGA during a conditioning run. Could he have held that for another 800 meter? Who knows but I'd bet he could break 10:00 if he trained for it.

This is total bs. Perhaps he means 7:15. 6:15 is 4:10 mile pace for 1.5 miles.

I can't believe this thread has 4 pages already. I remember a few days ago when the topic came up and thinking it should get posted on here but then forgetting about it.

I googled for this and couldn't find it anywhere, but I might try to talk to my father or my high school friends and see if they remember.

In the 1980's, the Atlanta Falcons had a team two-mile at the beginning of their training camp. Goal times were 16:00 for linemen, 14:00 for linebackers, fullbacks, QB, etc., 12:00 for secondary and WR.

A rivalry over several years occured between Mick Luckhurst and a defensive back whose name I don't remember.

It came to a head one year and their were substantial bets and sidebets about the outcome of the race.

Previous years, the two of them ran ~10:20. This year, ~1984, Luckhurst ran 9:38 and the DB ran around 10:15.

Luckhurst had trained all summer for the two mile.

so, a young kicker training for running for three months ran a 9:38.

Killa Mike wrote:

For every Tim Harris that is a football player that wants to run track and runs 1:49.3, there are tons that could have but didn't.

This is pure speculation. You have no idea how many there are, and I'd wager that there certainly aren't "tons."

Killa Mike wrote:

Are you saying that someone that can run 1:49.3 couldn't break 10 minutes?!

That suggestion doesn't sound outrageous to me at all. Being a fast 400/800 runner does not make you a fast miler/2-miler despite your personal experience.

You've stated that distance runners have an inflated sense of accomplishment, I believe the same can be said for you in your opinion of NFL athletes. They are not the best "athletes" in the world, they are the best football players in the world. Any speculation over who are the best athletes almost always ends up with an argument just like this thread.

As my roommate used to say, there's track fast and there's football fast. They may be correlated but they are not equivalent. Citing an example of a 10.1 100m runner who went on to be good at football does not mean that any good football player could run a 10.1. The multi-sport athletes are the exception, not the rule.

In response to the OP:

1) Not a snowball's chance in hell, their training specifically excludes any chance of this.

2) Of course. I agree with Killa Mike in that a 10 minute 2-mile is within reach of many people if they were to train specifically for it.

No doubt that's either a missprint or a joke. BTW, doesn't the Woodlands High School in Texas claim to have like 40 guys that break 10 each year?? lol.

Even Lance Armstrong would have to train to break 10. And it wouldn't come so easily for him. Last time I heard, He is 173 lbs.

Sorry, a footballer cannot break 10 minutes. I think it is possible for some to break 5 minutes in mile but not 10 minutes.

I think even 11 minutes would be very tough.

I hear ya pjb...but hear me out on this one.

What if someone NATURALLY has the ability to run under 10 mins, and is really good at football and decides to follow the cash and go that route? Running routes all day and catching balls is not going to 'de-train' someone from being able to run sub 10 that could do it already.

I remember seeing a piece on Jerry Rice about his running. He used to run this big hill and bring out the rookies to see if they could beat him. I'm not sure of the distance or how long it took but I remember it being respectible. Of course he's retired now so....

Killa Mike wrote:

What if someone NATURALLY has the ability to run under 10 mins, and is really good at football and decides to follow the cash and go that route? Running routes all day and catching balls is not going to 'de-train' someone from being able to run sub 10 that could do it already.

Mike, you're an idiot. There are no guys who naturally can run under 10 and are really good at football.

A guy who can run sub-10 with very little training will be built like a distance runner, at best like an 800 runner. That type of build isn't going to get you far in football. Sure you can play high school ball, but the original question was about the NFL.

The NFL is where Reggie Bush and Ted Ginn go to be average. Ain't nobody running sub-10 for 2 miles and playing at that level.

How many people can break 10 with no athletic training of any kind? I don't know if there is a single person in the world who can. I don't understand the whole "natural ability" thing.

1.) No

2.) Almost every CB, Free Safety, and some QB's (Jeff Garcia, Brooks Bollinger, guys like that) could break 10:00 minutes with the right training. I think WR's like Santana Moss and CB's like Ronde Barber if they trained would be awesome distance runners. See NJ x-c stud Murad Campbell from the late 90's.