CJ2K might have a chance against Bolt in the 40. (US Presswire) |
Like so many people in the world, Titans running back Chris Johnson watched Usain Bolt captivate the public with his world record-breaking performances at the Beijing Olympics four years ago and with his stunning 100 meter win in London. Like most everybody else, Johnson has been duly impressed by Bolt’s staggering speed.
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But put them together in a 40-yard race, and Johnson is pretty sure who would win.
“I think I could still probably beat him in the 40,” Johnson said, via the Tennessean. “If I actually trained for the distance he trained for, I think I’d have a chance.”
And apparently, there’s a small chance that a race between the two actually could happen. PFT reports that Bolt’s representatives have been trying to make that match although there has been no agreement on the length of the race.
Although it seems clear (at least to me) that Johnson -- ranked No. 5 across the board according to CBSSports.com’s fantasy gurus -- couldn’t last with Bolt’s stride length over 100 meters, a slow start in the 40 could hinder him badly against Johnson.
PFT notes that NBC previously has estimated that the 40-yard split from Bolt’s gold-medal performance from 2008 (a 9.69, a bit sloweer than his world record time of 9.58) was minutely slower than Johnson’s record-setting 40-yard dash time of 4.24 at the 2008 combine. Which, as you can see below, is ridiculous.
So, that'd be an interesting matchup, eh?
“Training for football, we do a lot of short sprints -- we do 40s and 50s and things like that. We don’t really train like track athletes,” Johnson said. “If a track athlete tried to come play football it would be totally different [for Bolt].”
For some reason, I still think Bolt would upend Johnson if the two ever raced at 40 yards. But man, I’d really want to see it.
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