Al Michaels finally said something that made me think. What if the Philadelphia Eagles entered their best possible team in the Penn Relays in the 4x100? I know that they aren't trained to run a 100m right now, but they have some crazy fast dudes that could probably give the USA B team a run for their money with some minimal training. And since the A team can never hand the baton off smoothly they might get nabbed too. Thoughts?
Not even close.
are you serious? they would not even beat a usa c team.
This is a really, really dumb thread, even by Letsrun.com standards.
Outstanding track runners can become high level NFL performers (Bob Hayes, Reynaldo Nehehmiah, Willie Gault, Darrell Green), but you will not see the reverse, football players becoming world class track runners.
The skill, to be among the fastest in the world, is just too rare. The ten fastest guys in the NFL, after a full year away from football, working with Olympic coaches, would make two slow relay teams, each with one alternate.
There's a big difference between the fastest ten sprinters in the country and guys in the top 100 below them. NFL "speedsters" are, at best, in that top 100 below them, and would trail the top ten in a race very noticeably. A relay compounds the talent disparity, multiplying it by four. Each guy would fall further and further behind.
It's the same with NFL "strongmen," in comparison to Olympic weightlifters. They are weak by comparison to real weightlifters.
I have to somewhat disagree. While the Eagles may not be able to field a competitive team, I think the NFL as a whole would be able to produce 4 guys that could at least run something decent with the right training.
Jacoby Ford with the Raiders ran for Clemson. I saw him run 6.52 in the 60 which is ridiculously fast, usually a top 5 time in the world any given year.
Ted Ginn with the 49ers ran 13.6 in high school in the 110 hurdles and 10.02 in the 100.
Jerome Mathis plays for the Texans and ran 20.32 in the 200 in college and was runner up one year at NCAAs.
Chris Johnson with the Titans ran track in High School and was runner up in the Florida state meet to Walter Dix. Think he ran low 10s.
Off the top of my head, here are 4 guys, who given a little time to train could certainly run a respectable time.
Just Getting It Right wrote:
Outstanding track runners can become high level NFL performers (Bob Hayes, Reynaldo Nehehmiah, Willie Gault, Darrell Green), but you will not see the reverse, football players becoming world class track runners.
The skill, to be among the fastest in the world, is just too rare. The ten fastest guys in the NFL, after a full year away from football, working with Olympic coaches, would make two slow relay teams, each with one alternate.
There's a big difference between the fastest ten sprinters in the country and guys in the top 100 below them. NFL "speedsters" are, at best, in that top 100 below them, and would trail the top ten in a race very noticeably. A relay compounds the talent disparity, multiplying it by four. Each guy would fall further and further behind.
It's the same with NFL "strongmen," in comparison to Olympic weightlifters. They are weak by comparison to real weightlifters.
Nerd alert. Get a life man.
DJax wrote:
Nerd alert. Get a life man.
There's nothing like getting called out by a little kid who can type.
Hope Santa gets you the toys you want.
Jeff Demps?
Chris Johnson(Tennessee Titans) was a 10.4 runner in HS
Jahvid Best (Detroit Lions) was a 10.3 runner in HS
so what's not to say that these former track athletes in the NFL still don't have it?
With some training I think they can get it.
Not a chance, just like the best sprinters couldn't put together a great football team.
trindon holiday of the houston texans ran 10.07. also made it to the semis of the 100m at the 08 Trials
Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles(KC) ran 10.77 and 10.69 at the 2003 USTAF Junior Olympics in the Young division(17-18yo?).
And all of these people named are on different teams. The original questions was 4 of the Eagles. And the answer is not even close. There are certainly some speedsters in the NFL, that could run very low 10s. Not a single guy that has run under 10.0, nor is it likely that there is. Holliday with specific training could come close as could Ford. Outside of that, there is not. Football speed and track speed are two entirely different things.
Trindon Holliday 10.00
Jacoby Ford 10.01
Yeah, they're pretty close.
Mr. Obvious wrote:
This is a really, really dumb thread, even by Letsrun.com standards.
Entertaining discussion you've got going here, Just Saying.
Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin Lesean McCoy and Desean Jackson.
Asante Samuel as an alternate.
They'd have a shot at dipping under 40 s.
toro wrote:
Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin Lesean McCoy and Desean Jackson.
Asante Samuel as an alternate.
They'd have a shot at dipping under 40 s.
I'll take those 4 and with a bit of training they will be champs. After all, they can't be any worse than our Oly or WC teams in the passing the baton department.
You naysayers don't know what you are talking about. These guys can run and, for the most part, they have an understanding of the "team concept" where baton passing is critical.
If they can run 4.3 +- in the 40, then any track coach can get them to 10+ in the 100m.
toro wrote:
Michael Vick, Jeremy Maclin Lesean McCoy and Desean Jackson.
Asante Samuel as an alternate.
They'd have a shot at dipping under 40 s.
I love my Eagles, but "under 40?" I don't think the best four sprinters NFL wide could be expected to do that, but definitely not a 4 x 100 with those guys, especially LeSean McCoy.
That's fast for me, but slow for their Penn Relays competition, just from April 2010: Jamaica 37:90, USA red 38:33, USA Blue 38:50.
The NFL guys who have gone in the low 10s in the 100 meters would be much better candidates than the football fast (40/50 yards) Eagles. Keep in mind that track and field level performance enhancer testing was likely not done for those lifetime bests. Perhaps the fastest player in the NFL could be the seventh or eighth fastest on those USA teams, perhaps, but that's a long way from saying four Eagles could compete.
The Eagles look fast on the football field because they are running against slower people. On the Penn Relays track, they would look really slow against teams going 37:90, 38:33 and 38:50. That's flying.
Keep in mind that you get a running start, so times are faster than a straight 100. Usain Bolt ran I think 8.5-ish at Penn last year.