800m/1500m specialists vs NFL WRs and Runningbacks over 100m

Football players run yards. This challenge would be too confusing.

this has more to do with the way we stereotype or funnel athletes than reality. the trope is you turn a fast football player into a sprinter or hurdler. they rarely do 800 or mile. guy i ran sprint and mile relay with junior high was the tailback then. went to HS, dropped football, became an 800 guy, made state. we reflexively label such players fast twitch and herd them to relay distances.

i also think you're missing that, a) TF-dedicated people running the quarter or 800 are often pretty darned good short sprinters who are merely specializing where their bread is best buttered; b) a sub 44 quarter guy is averaging splits under 11, and c) conversely tyreek hill proved a so-so 100m guy.

i personally think if you took untrained but professional football skill players and then world class 400/800 guys they actually might have similar fitness and speed -- the football guys need to be fit to do play after play -- but it would probably favor the track people. track speed is different than speed in other sports. i thought this trope already got blasted.

Middle distance guys don’t play in the NFL. Different sports, different body types.

Most NFL WRs ran track in HS and I would guess that any NFL WR could easily go sub-11 and many would be <10.6. Very few 800 guys can run that fast and probably no current 1500 guys are even sub 46 guys and have no chance of going anywhere near 10.6. Then you have the fact that no 800 & 1500 guys train out of blocks whereas those WRs who ran track in HS have a lot of experience starting from blocks. NFL WRs over pro t&f 8/15 guys 100%.

this is a lame attempt to reboot the "football faster than track" by moving the goalposts. i don't believe the crossover is until the 1500/1600. fred kerley at 100m has shown versatility goes out to 400m in terms of TF guys. i think some WR are out there for blazing speed and some are well conditioned route runners. some of football and soccer is fitness. if the position was all fast twitch JimmyG who throws a bunch of 5 yard short passes would be out of a job.

i also think you're either over-stating or -essentializing that 800m are all some different type. you have your jewetts and millers and everyone from puerto rico who front run. they are usually very fast. you have some of the people we send to the olympics who aren't blazing fast but close well and are good at heats. mu is not wottle. it's not all one type.

Nfl recievers are meant to sprint, and many have elite speed. Edge goes ro mid-distance guys at 300-400m.

This lol. In the debate about "football vs track" the fact that NFL guys are still incredibly fast, like 0.01% of the population usually gets lost in translation when comparing them to guys who run 9.7 and 9.8

A prime Sebastian Coe might be able to take a lot of NFL guys in the 200, but of the current crop, not likely - it'd be fairer to have them race over 400 as another poster said.

All the wr and rb should be faster. If they're not sub 11 100m, they're too slow. These are amongst the best all-around athletes in the world.

I’d be interested in which cohort (nfl vs track runners) is dirtier.

i suspect NFL cohort wouldn’t be able pass even the minimally effective PED drug testing that TF athletes go through