Bullet Bob Hayes.
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Is Bob Hayes the fastest person to have ever played in the NFL??
Al H..
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Scotty Miller would say Scotty Miller is the fastest ever in the NFL.
Who is Scotty Miller? Some dude who plays for Tampa who will more than likely be a non factor in the Super Bowl.
I have definitely read or heard people making this argument. And particularly if you account for all of the differences now in equipment and training.
Glenn Davis was pretty fast.
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Ralph
Depends. In the 100, very possibly. But he may not have been as good in the 40. I guess it depends on the measuring stick.
Bob Hayes ran 100 meters in 10.05. Couldn't find 40 yard dash times for Bob. He was the first person to break six seconds in the 60-yard dash with his indoor world record of 5.9 seconds.
In some of the first meets to be timed with experimental fully automatic timing, Hayes was the first man to break ten seconds for the 100 meters, albeit with a 5.3 m/s wind assistance in the semi-finals of the 1964 Olympics. His time was recorded at 9.91 seconds.
Darrell Green supposedly recorded a 40 yard dash time of 4.09 at the Washington Redskins’ training camp in 1986 (Green has said in interviews that the fastest time he has ever been aware of running is 4.15) and ran 100 meters in 10.08,
Bo Jackson had a 40 yard dash time of 4.12 and a 100 meters at 10.39.
Deion Sanders ran a 4.21 forty yard dash at the 1989 NFL combine. He ran 100 meters at 10.21.
There are some disputes over the numbers, especially Bo's 4.12 and Green's 4.09.
"Bullet" Bob might still be the fastest!
i would guess that on any given day, any of the 4 mentioned above may win in a footrace. I would hazard a guess that Green stayed fastest the longest.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
here's Bo talking about his 4.13, and Lightning Bolt running a 4.22
https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/14869826
https://www.nfl.com/videos/usain-bolt-runs-4-22-second-40-yard-dash-at-super-bowl-403404
you'll never be able to outrun a bad diet
there is no doubt that all the other players are legitimately fast, but I think there is a reason why the benchmark sprint events are the 100/220 yd. and 100/200 m. races. the lowest times in the 40 and 60 yd. dashes probably reflect a quicker start, maybe a better skill to have when playing football. the thing is, when playing football there are no starting blocks and it isn't really a sprint. downfield speed and an ability to "juke" are probably more valuable.
we can watch highlight film of the players named thus far and we can go off our own eyes, I saw Bob Hayes play "live" and on the tube. he had "separation speed" that Tyreek Hill has, but to a higher degree. watching Hill play it seems clear that he uses his quickness and agility more for separation and then can just outrun most players. if you watch Bob Hayes highlight film it's surprising how open he got, I imagine he was just so much faster in his era than everyone else. today the overall speed in the NFL is superior, but one-on-one I tend to think Hayes was the fastest man of all time.
it's an interesting comparison.
Zeke Elliot ran a 4.46 for the 40 at the Draft and it seems slow, but then we're talking tenths of a second. Dieon Sanders low times are probably attributable to his fast starts, he had magnificent reaction time, brain signal to muscles, and he really took advantage of that. at 6'5" and 210 lbs. I have to wonder what Usain Bolt could have done as a football player?? pack another 20 lbs. on him with some ability to avoid tackles and he'd have been dangerous.
I would like to know what Cliff Branch ran
he was the fastest man in the NFL when he played.
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He was definitely a blazer. Glad to see him mentioned.
Edit. I looked him up and his wikipedia page states he ran a 10 flat 100 meters and 4.20 40. Not sure that is true, but he was certainly way fast,
of everyone mentioned with times, Bob Hayes is the only one who's times were on cinder tracks.
Rocket Ismael
In college Cliff Branch returned the game opening kickoff for a touchdown. He caught the ball in the end zone and ran it back for a touchdown, through traffic. A run back of over 100 yards.
When he scored the TD the game clock stopped. Only 11 seconds had elapsed.
Cliff was blazing fast.