Tennessee Titans Chris Johnson Believes He Could Beat Usain Bolt In 40-Yard Dash
By Josh Sanchez
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is one of the fastest men in the NFL. He proved that when he ran a 4.24 in the forty-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine. However, that isn’t enough to satisfy the Titans rusher. He doesn’t just believe that he is the fastest man in the NFL. He believes he is the fastest man on the planet.
That’s right. Johnson believes that he could beat Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt in a foot race.
“I feel like if I would have kept training for track I’d have a chance, but I play football and he runs track, so it’s totally different. I think I could still probably beat him in the 40. If I actually trained for the distance he trained for, I think I’d have a chance,” Johnson said, per The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt.
Even though you look at Bolt’s 9.63 time in the 100-meter sprint and say ‘WOW!” it wouldn’t be hard to believe that Johnson would have a legitimate shot in a much shorter race. Bolt is 6-foot-5 and takes some time to get into full gear, while Johnson has the acceleration to be competitive in a short race.
Although some believe that Bolt would run a smoking time in the 40-yard dash. Former Baltimore Ravens coach Bill Billick even believes that Bolt could run a sub four second 40 — a 3.97 is his exact guess. That would be absurd and would have people all over claiming for a NFL team to take a chance on the world’s fastest man.
A conversion from sprinting to football is very unlikely for Bolt, however. If he is going to take his speed to any professional sport it will be soccer, where he hopes to get a shot to try out for Manchester United.
Whatever Bolt could run in a 40-yard dash, it would be fun to see him step on the field for a race for charity with Chris Johnson.