3 ms·

Kottke: Avg dude vs. pro football player in 40 yard dash

31 points by jjguy 17y ago

gr366 17y ago
Average dude being Rich Eisen, of the NFL Network, who in fact trained for this sprint: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d816ad7b3/Eisen-trains-for-40 http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d816ad7b3/Eisen...
edster 17y ago
It's amazing how fast even the big dudes run. That's what blows my mind.
rgrieselhuber 17y ago
I'm assuming there is an entirely different stride that lets them run so fast (aside from tons of training, of course)?
- jnb 17y ago
  I really wish they would have added the other players freeze frame stride like the did the guy in the suit - that would have been really interesting to compare.
- samdk 17y ago
  Yep. The stride of the guy in the suit is way too long. When you're sprinting, you want to be taking short, fast strides that propel you forward and not rely on your momentum to carry you there. The general idea is that you raise your knee with your lower leg pointing downwards, and then rip backwards, extending your leg as you do so. You don't want to go up at all, just forward. The other thing to do that he's not is move your arms more efficiently. Your elbows should be locked at about a 90 degree angle, and your hands should be relaxed. Your arms drive your legs, not the other way around. (I ran indoor track when I was in high school. My main event was the 55m dash.)
jackowayed 17y ago
It would be cool if they actually gave his time. Also, if you put Tebow in a suit and him in running clothes it would be (a little bit) closer.
- reynolds 17y ago
  > It would be cool if they actually gave his time. The guy in the suit? The fastest player was Jacoby Ford with a 4.28s 40-yard dash. http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers?tabIndex=0 http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers?tabIndex=0
  - jackowayed 17y ago
    Yeah, the guy in the suit, for comparison. I know that very fast NFLers are in that ~4.3 range, so it would be cool to know that he got a 6.8 or whatever for comarison
whatusername 17y ago
Hell - compare the Avg Dude to a Marathon runner. A 42.195km marathon in 2:03:59 - is about 5.67m/s or 20.4km/h. That is a 17 second 100m, or 70 seconds for a 400m lap of a track. Plenty of people couldn't run that one lap at that pace.
- balding_n_tired 17y ago
  Plenty of which people? Middle aged guys in suits? As I recall, most of my 10th grade class could break 70 seconds--the guy who took 90 was overweight and a smoker.

31 points by jjguy 17y ago

gr366 17y ago

Average dude being Rich Eisen, of the NFL Network, who in fact trained for this sprint: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d816ad7b3/Eisen-trains-for-40 http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d816ad7b3/Eisen...

edster 17y ago

It's amazing how fast even the big dudes run. That's what blows my mind.

rgrieselhuber 17y ago

I'm assuming there is an entirely different stride that lets them run so fast (aside from tons of training, of course)?

jnb 17y ago
I really wish they would have added the other players freeze frame stride like the did the guy in the suit - that would have been really interesting to compare.
samdk 17y ago
Yep. The stride of the guy in the suit is way too long. When you're sprinting, you want to be taking short, fast strides that propel you forward and not rely on your momentum to carry you there. The general idea is that you raise your knee with your lower leg pointing downwards, and then rip backwards, extending your leg as you do so. You don't want to go up at all, just forward. The other thing to do that he's not is move your arms more efficiently. Your elbows should be locked at about a 90 degree angle, and your hands should be relaxed. Your arms drive your legs, not the other way around. (I ran indoor track when I was in high school. My main event was the 55m dash.)

jackowayed 17y ago

It would be cool if they actually gave his time. Also, if you put Tebow in a suit and him in running clothes it would be (a little bit) closer.

reynolds 17y ago
> It would be cool if they actually gave his time. The guy in the suit? The fastest player was Jacoby Ford with a 4.28s 40-yard dash. http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers?tabIndex=0 http://www.nfl.com/combine/top-performers?tabIndex=0
- jackowayed 17y ago
  Yeah, the guy in the suit, for comparison. I know that very fast NFLers are in that ~4.3 range, so it would be cool to know that he got a 6.8 or whatever for comarison

whatusername 17y ago

Hell - compare the Avg Dude to a Marathon runner. A 42.195km marathon in 2:03:59 - is about 5.67m/s or 20.4km/h. That is a 17 second 100m, or 70 seconds for a 400m lap of a track. Plenty of people couldn't run that one lap at that pace.

balding_n_tired 17y ago
Plenty of which people? Middle aged guys in suits? As I recall, most of my 10th grade class could break 70 seconds--the guy who took 90 was overweight and a smoker.