Rojo claims "several" NCAA footballers can split 46 for 400m in a DMR. Is that true?

Typo he meant 64

Typo? There's no way he meant 64 instead of 46 and made that same mistake TWICE in the article, both times saying how 48 and 49.48 is slow.

In the data you provided those are high school times.

Rojo is correct.

Ah true, that's not a good source. Well then looking at the Outdoor Track & Field Bests by Collegiate Football Players, from 2012 - 2017 (which includes D1, D2, AND D3) there were only 5 times that were 46.xx.

2017: 46.42, by two people

2016: 46.26

2013: 46.80

2012: 46.90

If in SIX years, only 5 collegiate D1, D2, and D3 footballers ran under 47...how can several split 46 in one year?

http://www.ustfccca.org/meets-results/outdoor-track-field-bests-by-collegiate-football-players

It is called hyperbole. Just like all the stuff that Trump says is the best ever.

No it is not true...

but there is a lot of track talent wasted in football. I went to HS with a 46.2 400m runner. He did both football and track through HS and was serious about both. He signed with a big time football program, and never competed in track again. What's worse is you can count on your hands the number of plays he participated in over four years as a college footballer.

The way I see it, if you pull football Playets off the field and tell them run 400, maybe a handful break 50. Take those same kids and train them for 6 months? I think a lot more WR/DBs could go 46high than you expect

Oh, it's not that there are footballers that CAN run 46 (current ability) it's that they COULD run 46 (have future potential). Weird Rojo phrased it like current football studs could do it, especially with this line:

"Again, go out to football practice and borrow a guy. But it’s stats like that that just piss me off as it reminds me that football coaches rarely let their studs run track anymore. And yet they complain they have no speed on the football team unless they are an SEC school."

Yes, they could. The best male athletes in this country play football and basketball.

Rojo doesn't know what he is talking about. Several footballers are not going to split 46 indoors in the DMR.

Last year only two guys were sub 47 in the DMR at NCAA's. The 400m leg is inconsequential unless you either run 45 or 50. Its only 10% of the race.

Fake news! The best athletes do MMA and boxing. They would blow football guys out of the water in a 400.

1. MMA, boxing - :46

2. soccer - :48

3. football and basketball - :50

Is Rojo right?! wrote:

Ah true, that's not a good source. Well then looking at the Outdoor Track & Field Bests by Collegiate Football Players, from 2012 - 2017 (which includes D1, D2, AND D3) there were only 5 times that were 46.xx.

2017: 46.42, by two people

2016: 46.26

2013: 46.80

2012: 46.90

If in SIX years, only 5 collegiate D1, D2, and D3 footballers ran under 47...how can several split 46 in one year?

http://www.ustfccca.org/meets-results/outdoor-track-field-bests-by-collegiate-football-players

As much as I love that list, it's pretty incomplete. Of my three teammates on there, two were missing performances and a third quit football after his freshman year, yet only appeared on there as a senior.

46.xx is FAST. The biggest things that CBs, WRs, and RBs need are acceleration and lateral quickness. Though those traits obviously select for faster 400m runners, it's not a direct parallel. Soccer players who have acceleration and lateral quickness PLUS the aerobic ability to play 90 mins are much better suited for 400m than footballers, who are better at 60/100m.

RB/CB/WR/FS/PR/KR- 100m/200m

QB- Javelin

OT/DE- Discus

OG/DT- Shot Put

LB/SS/FB- Decathlon

Do you understand how few football players run the 400 in college? The few football players that do run track typically run the 60, the 100 and occasionally the 200. I ran ran at a competitive D1 school and would occasionally drop down and run the 4X400. We had a couple of football players that would run track. Two would run the 400 and they were both low 47 guys in the open 400 (that could split mid to high 46 in the relay with a running start). One went on to play for two NFL teams.

joedirt wrote:

Do you understand how few football players run the 400 in college? The few football players that do run track typically run the 60, the 100 and occasionally the 200. I ran ran at a competitive D1 school and would occasionally drop down and run the 4X400. We had a couple of football players that would run track. Two would run the 400 and they were both low 47 guys in the open 400 (that could split mid to high 46 in the relay with a running start). One went on to play for two NFL teams.

RGIII has the second fastest prep 400IH of all time - 49.56. I am sure he could have run around 45-flat if he had focused on track at Baylor.

Just cause they don't race 400s doesn't mean they can. You knew like the only 2 guys who could do it.

John Kellogg always told me the story of how at Baylor the year before he got there, someone got hurt for the 4 x 400. They went out and got a LJer who hadn't run it since freshman year of HS. He split 47 for 440 yards.

So my main point is it's embarrassing that these so called track powers don't have guys who can at least split somethingfast with a running start. I mean LJers basic speed should result in that. How are these complete track teams if you don't have at least a 48 second open 400 guy which might result in that being a 46 relay?

And yes, I get it. With scholarship limitations it does a Big 10 school no good to have a 48 second 400 guy meanwhile at the Ivy League level, plenty of schools have tons of them as those guys can score at conference with that type of speed.

So maybe 46 is pushing it. 47?

Oh yeah, I know not many run the 400. It's not like they require footballers to run the 400m. (Although that would be interesting to see how everyone's 40-yd dash correlates to the 400m based on their position.) And here's another thing I found which might support the fast footballer theory: a list of track guys who went on to play in the NFL. Although this doesn't necessarily mean current NCAA athletes can run 46.xx, it does show that very fast people can and do play football.

OP here; thanks for the response, Rojo! I definitely get that you're saying there should be faster guys. And after reading yours and other people's replies on here and doing more of my own research, I think a couple NCAA footballs doing 47.xx definitely could happen...and 46.xx might not be out of the realm of possibility.

anthony schwartz 400m PR 51.xx

lmfao