Did Bo Jackson Really Run a 4.12 40?

What were the circumstances of Coleman's 40 yard dash? Was it timed the same way, or was it FAT?

Paul Bunyan wrote:

What were the circumstances of Coleman's 40 yard dash? Was it timed the same way, or was it FAT?

Coleman used an electronic timing system, whereas no hard evidence exists for the Bo Jackson claim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHV-8TwxfXY

It is reasonable to believe Vincent "Bo" Jackson. No one sprints 100m on natural talent. It takes a lot of hard work, sprint coordination drills and other exercises, working on running form to sprint 100m well. Bo was in Runner's World, first when he was 14 for T&F. Bo Jackson was an indoor T&F legend in high school. World class sprinters have nothing on elite football players in a 40 yard dash.

Bo knows T&F wrote:

It is reasonable to believe Vincent "Bo" Jackson. No one sprints 100m on natural talent. It takes a lot of hard work, sprint coordination drills and other exercises, working on running form to sprint 100m well. Bo was in Runner's World, first when he was 14 for T&F. Bo Jackson was an indoor T&F legend in high school. World class sprinters have nothing on elite football players in a 40 yard dash.

You're joking, right?

why is this difficult to understand? With hand timing the advantage over FAT is in the 4 tenths region, and if I understand correctly the start protocol is also a variable

Bo was fast as hell , but we aren't following identical testing methodology and cant compare with CC, and obviously Bo Jackson went a different way with his body than one he could have chosen if he had stayed with track

Bo knows T&F wrote:

It is reasonable to believe Vincent "Bo" Jackson. No one sprints 100m on natural talent. It takes a lot of hard work, sprint coordination drills and other exercises, working on running form to sprint 100m well. Bo was in Runner's World, first when he was 14 for T&F. Bo Jackson was an indoor T&F legend in high school. World class sprinters have nothing on elite football players in a 40 yard dash.

Huh? You are clueless.

Always so much misinformation when football players and 40 times are discussed. I believe John Ross still has the “record” at 4.28

Bo ran 4.13!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hn5pHK1Qk

There might be some urban legend.

He might have or might not have, unfortunately he doesn't have any evidence since in the combine back then they didn't use laser timing yet. The only started using FAT in 1999. So most likely it was 4.13 + 0.24 . His status as a great athlete apparently makes questioning his claims in public not acceptable.

Belarussiya wrote:

He might have or might not have, unfortunately he doesn't have any evidence since in the combine back then they didn't use laser timing yet. The only started using FAT in 1999. So most likely it was 4.13 + 0.24 . His status as a great athlete apparently makes questioning his claims in public not acceptable.

Right! Hahaha!

It's funny that ESPN would report Bo Jackson's claim as "confirmation."

Given enough reporters, journalists and talking heads, we're always just a few utterances and disseminations away from 'fact'.

Different timing systems.

Not comparable.

The 100m world record is actually 9.434 if you time it from when Bolt started running to when he crossed the finish line.

So, it's possible that Bo ran 4.12 and he could not run faster than Coleman.

Star wrote:

Different timing systems.

Not comparable.

The 100m world record is actually 9.434 if you time it from when Bolt started running to when he crossed the finish line.

So, it's possible that Bo ran 4.12 and he could not run faster than Coleman.

What? Explain that final part. Coleman self-started in that 40. It wasn't in a gun-initiated race.

DragonLady wrote:

Bo knows T&F wrote:

It is reasonable to believe Vincent "Bo" Jackson. No one sprints 100m on natural talent. It takes a lot of hard work, sprint coordination drills and other exercises, working on running form to sprint 100m well. Bo was in Runner's World, first when he was 14 for T&F. Bo Jackson was an indoor T&F legend in high school. World class sprinters have nothing on elite football players in a 40 yard dash.

You're joking, right?

Bo was a homerun hitting baseball player. Bo Jackson had a job running through defensive linemen and linebackers. Vincent Jackson, 6'1" 230lbs. He could have slimmed down and kicked six different kinds of dog sh^t out of Christian Coleman, T&F. If C Coleman could hit homeruns and/or run a football, Coleman would be in M.L.B. &/or N.F.L. as was Bo. Bo could have been a faster sprinter than Coleman. It is hard work to continue to sprint faster to 70m then manage deacceleration properly over final 30 metres. That was a skill Bo Jackson did not bother to acquire. I say the same thing about Chris Johnson, East Carolina Univ. and former N.F.L. runningback.

Bo knows T&F wrote:

DragonLady wrote:

You're joking, right?

Bo was a homerun hitting baseball player. Bo Jackson had a job running through defensive linemen and linebackers. Vincent Jackson, 6'1" 230lbs. He could have slimmed down and kicked six different kinds of dog sh^t out of Christian Coleman, T&F. If C Coleman could hit homeruns and/or run a football, Coleman would be in M.L.B. &/or N.F.L. as was Bo. Bo could have been a faster sprinter than Coleman. It is hard work to continue to sprint faster to 70m then manage deacceleration properly over final 30 metres. That was a skill Bo Jackson did not bother to acquire. I say the same thing about Chris Johnson, East Carolina Univ. and former N.F.L. runningback.

Not interested in what could've been. We're talking about what was. It's interesting that people like you always seem to neglect to mention Bob Hayes, who's one of the quintessential success stories between the two sports. You clearly know as much about football as you do track.

All we can do is talk, "Could have been." Chris Coleman has been brought up in this thread. Bo would beat Chris Coleman.

College football now is different than college football years ago. There was a time when number of football players on a college team was unlimited. Then, there was a time when college football teams were allowed to have 120 men. College football coaches were reasonable in years past allowing their football players to participate in T&F and thus skip spring football. My college coach counted on borrowing Am. football athletes for jumps, sprints & throws. My college coach recruited only 400m to 1500m runners since he was able to get the remaining T&F talent from football team.

Bob Hayes was allowed to participate in T&F in college. Chris Johnson had to switch from T&F at ECU to football. You have your biases in favor of sprinters over football players. You do not know me. I know way more about Bob Hayes than you think I know about him.

Bo knows T&F!

Delusional.

It's not her bias that favors the sprinters. It's the provable times.

And no, Bo would be out of the picture in a 100m race against Christian Coleman, and he'd finish at least a full stride length behind Coleman in a 40.

I forgot the name of the sprinter (someone good but not great), but someone a year or two ago timed himself running 3.93 for the 40. I suspect Bo's time is similar. Add two tenths and that would be the real time for both. 4.32 for Bo (a running back) would be about right. Chris Johnson is the fastest good running back to ever play the game and he ran 4.24. There's not a chance Bo could keep up with Chris Johnson. So 4.32 is probably the accurate time.

sbeefyk2 wrote:

I forgot the name of the sprinter (someone good but not great), but someone a year or two ago timed himself running 3.93 for the 40. I suspect Bo's time is similar. Add two tenths and that would be the real time for both. 4.32 for Bo (a running back) would be about right. Chris Johnson is the fastest good running back to ever play the game and he ran 4.24. There's not a chance Bo could keep up with Chris Johnson. So 4.32 is probably the accurate time.

+1
Agreed