40 yards to daylight!
The 40 yard
dash in football is the same as the bench press is for everyman: both are
simple tests used for solving multi-dimensional features, and therefore the
results are always arguable. The goal for this article isn’t simply to answer
questions like who ran the best times, but also to who would be the fastest, if
the quickest NFL-players of all time would be placed in the same time in
history, at the same age, to the same tracks and be made compete under the same
circumstances. And what would the best track and field sprint athletes of all
time be able to achieve in 40 yards, and similarly the fastest NFL-players in
sprint races? In order to answer to these types of multi-dimensional questions
with changing variables, one must look at the issue from various points of
views, using multiple forms of analysis in a creative manner, and questioning
old-established truths. In order to make reading easy, all technical analysis
has been placed as separate attachments at the end of this article. For experts
and passionate bench athletes, there is a vast amount of
interesting material to skim through.
The 40 yard dash made its debut at a Dallas Cowboys’ camp in the 1960’s. Prior to that the test had generally been measured at 50 yards, but Dallas wanted to test the speed in consideration to the different game positions. That’s how the so-called 40/20/10 –test came to be. Out of these yards, 40 yards was the one covering all game positions, thus becoming the universal speed test.
In the beginning the test was timed manually, which is why there were a lot of odd factors to be taken into consideration. First of all, the time it takes for the time keeper to react impacts how long it takes to start the clock. For the benefit of the runner, it would then be ideal to use older people, or people with an indifferent attitude towards their job, to give the runner more time. In the event of a large number of runners, the timekeeper’s vigilance can easily fluctuate, and the best runners will often be the ones to hold the time keeper's full attention. In this case the talented runners will suffer from the timekeeper’s faster reaction time.
Another odd factor is the arrival at the finish line. The time keeper will follow the runner for the duration of the sprint, and might anticipate the runner’s arrival at the finish line. The aim is to stop the timer at the exact moment the runner crosses the line, but the time keeper’s reactions will never be on point, and will thus always be a little late. Psychology is another factor that may influence the time it takes to stop the timer: the more the time keeper wishes for the runner to break a new record, the sooner he will stop the timer.
In the NFL Combine, for example, where the only automatic part is the stopping of the clock, the famous players will suffer in comparison to the unknown ones. The time keeper might at his sharpest react as much as 0.1 seconds faster than when he is being careless.
So how is it possible then to compare speed records taken with different timings? A good starting point to this is the scientific study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20072055, in which a 40 yd. distance was timed exclusively manually, and then compared to an exclusively electronic timing. In the latter, the departure was measured from a 3-point stand on the contact mat. It showed that the average difference in time was 0.31 seconds, meaning the manually timed results were that much faster. Scientific studies on visual reaction time is another good basis. According to general consensus, the average visual reaction time for a normal human being is 0.22 seconds. That means a manual start improves the result by 0.22 seconds, and a manual stopping by 0.09 seconds.
On an amateur level the test results can be distorted by much more serious errors. For example, the distance might be measured roughly, or in the metric system the numbers might be rounded off. The correct measurement is 36.58 meters. For example a 58 centimeter cut from the original distance will improve the time by at least 0.07 seconds. You also have to keep an eye on the start line, as all runners may not necessarily play a fair game. I’ve even heard of athletes who thought the back leg should be placed on the start line at the takeoff. Every meter equals 0.1 seconds for a top athlete and for slower ones even more.
The
track surface and the shoes play a huge part as well. The slowest results will
naturally occur on grass fields, and respectively the fastest on athletic
tracks with spikes. The best results in track and field are run on Mondo Super
X- tracks, with spikes specially designed in order to not dig into the surface.
In the NFL Combine a Fieldturf-artificial grass field (AstroTurf) is used,
which is relatively fast for a sports field, and to go with that an appropriate
shoe without spikes. The differences between the surfaces must absolutely be
taken into consideration in the comparison. The analysis in the first
attachment shows that the shoes which are adapted to the Fieldturf-track are on
average 7 percent slower than the Mondo Super X specialized spikes.
NFL Combine 40 Yard Dash
Up until
2004 NFL-tests were carried out manually, and the dominating result for this
epoch belongs to a man named Bo Jackson with the time of 4.12. In 2005, manual
time keeping was changed to electronic time keeping, however only
half-automated. One reason for this might be that a fully automated system
would’ve lowered the test results too much. The current half-automated system
only eliminates the time keeper’s role of stopping the clock. According to the statistics its effect is 0.09 seconds.
In light of this Bo Jackson’s time would’ve been 4.21, whilst his time on a
fully automated system would’ve been 4.43. All things considered, there is no
certainty of the accuracy of Jackson’s time, since manual time keeping is very unreliable.
However, Jackson’s time is well in line with the current system where the
unofficial (several athletes) result is 4.21.
Based on
the video analysis (attachment 5) and the published 10 yard times, we can count
the NFL Combine’s time delays at the start line. In the NFL Combine, that time
delay is on average only 0.12 seconds for top athletes, while according to the
formerly mentioned, it’s usually 0.22 seconds.
The video
analysis that I’ve made here shows that neither half-automated nor corrected
times give a proper image of the performance. The top results made after 2004
will indeed shake things up a bit in
my analysis.
Split times
In the NFL Combine there are also separate timings for the 10 and the 20
yd. marks. If taken half-manually, the timing of the 10 yard mark is extremely
unprecise. The indicated times for the fastest runners fluctuate between
1.40-1.52. The proper estimations carried out by video analysis range between
1.54-1.67. By comparing these separate timings with the estimations from the
video analysis, the faulty test results can generally be explained. Among the top
8 runners, the time keeper’s reaction times have fluctuated between 0.07-0.18
seconds, meaning at the worst there is a 0.11 second difference between two
athletes being compared.
Attachment 6 holds the video analysis’ separate timings from the NFL Combine.
A comparison to track and field sprints
The fastest
60 m times out of the 100 m sprint without reaction time:
Ben
Johnson’s result was disqualified due to doping, and his results are marked
here only for the purpose of comparison. His race is the only one here having
been performed before the invention of the Super Mondo X- track in 1991. His
time would probably have been the fastest on a modern track.
There is a
statistical analysis of Usain Bolt’s fastest sprints:
With the
help of the speed- and distance function, combined with the separate times
calculated between every 10 meters, one can very precisely count Bolt’s times
at the 10/20/30 and 40 yards. However
they can’t be directly compared to NFL-times.
- At the
takeoff, Bolt’s clock starts ticking when his foot presses the starting
block. After that he still has to lift
his hands from the track. The NFL-test timer goes off when the hand no longer
touches the line.
- Bolt
takes off from a starting block, NFL-testees from a 3-point stand.
-
The Fieldturf -track is roughly 7 percent
slower than the Mondo Super X track.
The fastest men in NFL history
17.-21 Within
about a 3/100 false marginal
Chris
Johnson (RB) still reigns in the new NFL Combine time keeping system
(2005-2016) with his time of 4.24 from 2008. It seems, however, that this time
is inaccurate, and this appears in the separate 10 yard timing. 1.40 is the
best time ever achieved, but on the video the takeoff doesn’t look
exceptionally explosive. The video analysis states the time 1.58, which means
the time keeper’s delay is 0.18 seconds – the slowest reaction time. According to the video analysis, a fully
automated time take would’ve been timed at 4.45.
Within about a 3/100 false marginal, a couple of other players would’ve made the same time: Trindon Holliday (WR)(2010) and Marquis Goodwin (WR) (2013). Holliday’s time is surprisingly weak in comparison to his sprint race results in track and field (60 m 6.54, 100 m 10.00). His running technique, as seen in a video from Combine, indicates problems that don’t appear in the 2009 NCAA 60 m indoor track finals. However his hand technique is clearly worse than the others’ in that sprint race as well.
4.45 with a fully automated timing is not bad at all, because it corresponds to 6.62 in 60 meters. That would’ve been enough to make the 2014 World Championship indoor track semifinals, and to place as 14-17th.
Based on the video analysis, 2013 NFL Combine’s Onterio McCalebb was slightly faster than the others, timed at 4.42. His acceleration was clearly the fastest of his group, and in the video analysis he was in the top four all the way up to 20 yards. He wasn’t quite able to keep up with this speed for the rest of the distance though, and McCalebb wouldn’t have made the list for the 60 m sprint.
C.J Spiller’s result in the NFL Combine from 2010 suffered from the time keeper’s fast reaction time at the takeoff. Based on the video analysis, the fully automated timing was about 4.47. However Spiller has an official time of 6.58 in 60 m from his university years in Clemson.
16. Bo
Jackson (RB) 1987-1990, 38 NFL Games Played
Curiously
enough, the athlete who holds the fastest record in 40 yards (4.12) is only
number 16 out of the best of that sport. Let’s not forget though that that is a
manually measured time, which is on average 0.31 seconds faster than a result measured
fully automatically. Additionally Jackson has an official, comparable result
from track and field. On the Auburn list of all time fastest, Jackson is in 9th
place in the 55 m sprint with a time of 6.18. That time corresponds to 6.59 in
60 meters, and to 4.42 in a fully automated 40 yd. timing.
Here the reader might wonder how Deion Sanders- a man whose speed has often been compared to Jackson’s- would’ve performed. Sanders ran the manually timed 4.21 in 40 yards. The only official track and field result he has recorded during his university years: a 100 m run in 10.21 seconds. These are tough scores for a footballer, but not the toughest of the bunch.
According to Wikipedia Jackson ran a 50 meter dash in 5.49 seconds - that would’ve been a world record. The correct time is 5.78. Bo Jackson’s times are not completely comparable either, because he ran his official times during the 80’s when the tracks were slower, meaning that if we were to adapt his results to modern day circumstances, they would be a little bit better.
15. James Trapp (CB) 1993-2003, 149 NFL Games Played
Trapp was a
track and field athlete of international rating. His 1992 100 meters record is
10.03 (+2,4), 10.14 (+2.0) and 200 m record 20.17 (+1.0). In 1993 he won the World
Championships in the 200 meters indoor track race.
Trapp is the third fastest in Clemson history in 55 meters with 6.16 (1992). This correlates to 6.57 in 60 meters. Trapp also competed three years in a row in the NCAA championships. In 1990 he came in 6th with the time of 6.26, in 1991 he came in 5th with 6.21, and in 1992 4th with 6.22.
Trapp won the NFL Fastest Man- competition (60 yards) in 1995, and ran his personal best in 1996, timed at 6.15, coming in second place. 60 yards in 6.15 seconds is comparable to 6.16 in 55 meters, which happens to be his record in that distance.
60 yards in 6.15 and 6.16 in 55 meters predict the time 4.40 with a fully automated 40 yd. timing.
14. Willie Gault (WR) 1983-1993, 170 NFL Games Played
Willie
Gault was an internationally known 110 meter hurdler and world champion in the
4x100 meter USA relay race team in the 1983 Helsinki games. At the time he was
only a university student, who quit track and field after the 1983 NFL draft.
He was chosen by the Chicago Bears in the first round.
Gault doesn’t have a single 40 yd. result, but
he has at least one official 60 yard timing from 1983 (6.18), NFL’s Fastest Man
competition (60y) silver medal from 1986 with the time of 6.195, and a stingy
semi-final loss with a personal best of 6.159 from 1987. It corresponds to a
fully automated 40 yard timing of 4.40.
What makes
Gault particular is that he is classified in both 45-49 year olds and 50-year
olds, and that he is a world champion in both 100 -and 200 meters. As a 50 year
old he completed 100 meters in 10.88.
Gault
places before Trapp because his sprints were completed on slower tracks.
An
interesting question here might be how the former world champion in 110 m
hurdles, Renaldo Nehemiah, who also had a short NFL career, would’ve been
comparable to Willie Gault, for example. In the Superstars-series of 1986 Gault
competed against Nehemiah in a 100 yard run, and won it by far, with a lead
already at the 40 yard mark. That is why Nehemiah is not on this list.
13. Keith Marshall (RB)
Keith
Marshall was the champion of his conference in sprints in high school. The
records for 100 m (10.20) and 200 m (21.30), as stated by Wikipedia, were
achieved by a 17-year old Marshall in 2011, and both are world class results.
However, there are no wind readings. A couple of weeks later (Durham NCHSAA 4A
Mideast Regional Ch.) a different sprint timed at 10.52 s with a 1.7 m/s wind
showed that with these readings he was in line with other top athletes of his
age.
Based on
the video analysis, Marshall’s fully automated 40 yd. time was 4.39 in the 2016
NFL Combine.
12. Alexander Wright (WR) 1990-1996, 87 NFL Games Played
Alexander
Wright was a sprinter at Auburn University, alongside football. In the 55 m
race he is statistically on the same level as Bo Jackson with the time of 6.18.
His 200 m record is 21.17.
Alexander
Wright won the NFL Fastest Man competition twice, in 1992 and -93. In the 1992
competition he achieved his 60 yd. record, 6.14. That corresponds to a fully
automated 40 yard time of 4.39.
In the
manual statistics for the 40 yards, Wright is in third place with 4.14.
11. Terrell Sinkfield (WR)
Terrell Sinkfield is known for his 40 yard-test from
the 2013 University of Minnesota’s Pro Day event. His timing of 4.19, achieved
on his second attempt, did surely not go unnoticed. Luckily there is a video of
it, since that is Sinkfield’s only official achievement. As with all fully
automated times, the official result of this run is less impressive than the
unofficial version. Sinkfield makes this list with the time of 4.38.
10. Dri Archer (RB), 20 NFL Games Played
Dri Archer
is second in the new NFL Combine time keeping system’s statistics with his time
of 4.26. According to the video analysis, the fully automated time
correspondent would’ve been 4.37.
In track
and field Archer is timed at 10.49 in 100 m and 21.46 in 200 m, which he
achieved as a 17- year old in high school.
9. Eddie Kennison (WR) 1996-2008, 179 NFL Games Played
8. James Jett (WR) 1993-2002, 140 NFL Games Played
James Jett
was not only a footballer at university, but also a track and field athlete,
and represented the USA in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the 4x100 m relay
race in the preliminary round and the semi-final. His records with legal winds
were 100m in 10.16 and 200m in 20.33. This being said, it was perhaps the 55
meter distance that was his forte, in which his 1990 result of 6.12 (ran in
university) remains his personal best.
Jett won
the NFL Fastest Man competition in 1996 with the time of 6.10 (60 yards), which
would correspond to a 6.11 in 55 meters. For a fully automated 40 yd. time the
same number would be 4.35.
7. Jacoby Ford (WR) 2010-2013, 38 NFL Games Played
The NCAA
2009 indoor track finals in 60 m Jacoby Ford 1., Trindon Holliday 2
6. Darrell
Green (CB) 1983-2002, 295 NFL Games Played
This list
does not aim to put the fastest players and athletes in order of talent or
achievement, in which case Green would be much higher on the list. Darrell
Green was a superman. 20 years in a normal civilian job is a long time, but
this kind of career in the NFL is impossible- except for Darrell Green. As a
young man he was already a high speed runner, timed at 10.08 (+0.1) in 100 m in
1983. Looking at this result one must take into consideration that the track
surface wasn’t the same as the current Mondo-X track, alongside its optimized
spikes. This is evident in the 1983 World Championships where Carl Lewis won by
far with the time of 10.06, and Greene’s result would’ve earned an easy silver medal
in the 1984 Olympics as well.
What makes Green a super man is also the fact that he won the NFL Fastest Man competition as many as four times (1986, 1988,1989 and 1991)- which is each time he participated. He has beaten three athletes mentioned before him on this list (two athletes did not participate).
As only a super man would, he was still the fastest Chicago Bears player at the age of 40 with his 40 yd. time of 4.2, and even as a senior player at 50 he was timed at 4.43 (unofficial manual time).
But why is he only number six on this list? Darrell Green’s strength was his speed endurance, which can be seen in his sprint records. 200 m in 20.48 (+0.3) is a top level result, and especially in 1983, when it was a world class result. For example, in the Helsinki world championships in 1983 it would’ve qualified for a bronze medal. Green’s 400 m is also solid, and when considering that he isn’t especially trained in it- it’s rock solid at 45.9. To top it off Green is only 175 cm tall, when most 400 m runners are between 180 to 195 cm tall. For example, Usain Bolt’s current record on a modern track is 45.28, and he’s 195 cm tall.
This list is arranging the athletes in order of result in the 40 yard distance. According to Green’s own statement, his fastest time is 4.15. As we can see not even official results are reliable. That being said, Green has an official record from track and field in 50 m from his university years. 5.76 predicts the time 6.19 in 55 meters, and corresponds to a fully automated 40 yd. time of 4.43. With that he would come in just behind Bo Jackson on this list in 17th place. Likewise the 1982 NCAA D2 100 m finals video reveals that Green is only third or fourth at the 40 yard line. Yet he won that race.
The 1982
NCAA D2 100 m Finals. Darrell Green in lane 5 (fourth from the right)
Nevertheless,
Darrell Green improved his acceleration after his university years. His fastest
short distance run, a 60 yd. run with the time of 6.097 was timed in 1986 at
the NFL Fastest Man competition. It corresponds to a fully automated 40 yard
time of 4.35. However, as stated before, during that time the surface was
slower than the present one, which is why Green is before Ford on this list.
Dallas
Cowboys at Washington Redskins – September 5th 1983
One of the
most legendary displays of speed in NFL history occurred during a Redskins -Cowboys
game, where Cowboys’ running back Tony Dorsett, famous for his speed, gets an
opening on the left and looks as if he is simply going to whiz by towards an
easy touchdown. All of a sudden Green appears from outside the camera frame,
and runs, from far behind, past his own defenders to catch Dorsett.
5. Phillip Epps (WR) 1982-1989, 95 NFL Games Played
Similarly,
Phillip Epps was a world class sprinter. The time he achieved in 1982, 20.19
(+1.9) at 200 meters was the second fastest of that year. His record in 55
meters, 6.08 took place in 1983. That corresponds to a fully automated 40 yd.
time of 4.32. Again we mustn’t forget that the tracks of that time were slower
than our current ones.
In the 1986
NFL Fastest Man competition Epps was put up against Green in the preliminary
round, and ended up losing in the photo finish. Both men timed at 6.097 in the
60 yd. race, which became Green’s personal best. Epps had already passed his
best years. In the 1987 equivalent race Epps ran the time of 6.149 in the
semifinals, beating Willie Gault. In the finals he came in second with 6.186.
4. Raghib Ismail (WR) 1993-2002, 126 NFL Games Played
Raghib
"Rocket" Ismail was killer at acceleration. His record in 55
m timed at 6.07 took place in 1991 (Central collegiate Conference track and
field championships at Purdue). It corresponds to a 4.31 in fully automated 40
yd. time.
That was a result that was largely mistrusted at the time. In 1991 he placed second at the NCAA indoor finals with a time of 6.19. A month after his record in Purdue, he ran in the IC4A indoor track race and came in second. Timed at 6.16- this was only 3/100 behind the winner and world champion Lee McCrea. That track was seen as particularly slow, but then again McCrea had already seen his best days.
3. Ron
Brown (WR) 1984-1991, 100 NFL Games Played
Out of all NFL-players, Ron Brown is perhaps best known internationally as the winner of the gold medal in the 4 x 100 meters relay at the 1984 Summer Olympics. In the 100 meters finals he came in fourth and timed at 10.26.
His record for 100 meters in legal conditions is 10.06, but when estimating his possible speed in 40 yards, his record in 55 meters: 6.07 from indoors in 1984 is better. He hasn’t been timed in 40 yards, but that 55 m result equals a 4.31 in fully automated 40 yd. time.
As to further confirm this result, Brown had been timed at 6.06 in 60 yds. in 1984 at the Dallas Times-Herald Invitational Track Meet Saturday night. It matches the 55 m time of 6.07 exactly. That 60 yd. test was important particularly for the fact that Brown beat Carl Lewis by far- the man who had won the 100 m Olympic gold.
Ron Brown won the NFL Fastest Man competition in 1987 and 1990. In the 1987 competition he ran the fastest time in the history of the competition, with a time of 6.095.
The situation is descriptive at the 40 yd. mark in the Los Angeles Olympic 100 meters final: Ron Brown is running in lane 1 and is dominating. Far behind is, among others, Carl Lewis (lane 7) and Ben Johnson (lane 4). The lead persists until 80 meters.
The Los
Angeles Olympic 100 m final 1984
2. Sam
Graddy (WR) 1987-1992, 43 NFL Games Played
Sam Graddy
ran in the same 4x100m Olympic winning team as Ron Brown, who handed him the
stick for the second leg of the race. Graddy also ran in the 100 meters
final finishing second with a time of 10.19 (lane 5). He managed to stay side
by side with Brown in the beginning, but ended up fighting for second place
with Michael McFarlane from Great Britain (lane 2). But as this list is about
40 yard records, and Ron Brown was clearly the fastest in the last image (1984
Olympic Final), the question that naturally arises is why Graddy gets to place
second on this list? The reason is his age.
Sam Graddy was only 20 years old when competing in the Olympic finals. In the same year in the NCAA 55 m final he came in second and timed at 6.15, and in 1985 he won it with the time 6.12. During his last year of university he ran his personal best: 55 m in only 6.03 s, but even then finished second. The winner of the race was the reigning world record holder in 55 m, Lee McCrea, who in 1987 won the indoor track world championships in 60 meters dash.
Graddy’s 100 m record in legal conditions remains the time 10.09 (+1.4), which he achieved in the year before the Olympics on tracks much slower than those of today, making it an incredibly impressive result. Even more impressive was his 200 m, counter wind race in 1985, finished in only 20.30 s (-1.3). He also won the NCAA championships in 100 m.
Sam Graddy as number two on this list may come as a surprise, as his name rarely pops up among the fastest of the NFL. However 55 m in 6.03s is an exceptional result, and in 40 yard dash it would be timed at 4.27!!! It is a remarkable result also manually (with average reaction times), in which case the result would have been under 4 seconds (3.96). An average NFL Combine time keeper would’ve timed it at 4.15.
1. Bob Hayes (WR) 1965-1975, 132 NFL Games Played
To see
Robert Lee ”Bullet Bob” Hayes’ name as number one here is probably not a
surprise, but the real surprise is just how strongly he dominates this list.
In particular internationally, Hayes is considered a track and field athlete who turned to the NFL in his older days to cool down. In reality he was a footballer in high school and a track and field athlete in university, only to make a career in the NFL straight after. In football he has won countless awards, which led him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. In fact, Bob Hayes changed the whole nature of the game and is the main reason why zone defense is being used in football today.
He equally played a part in the evolution of the sprint race. As a muscular runner (5 ft. 11/180 cm, 190 lbs./86 kg) he was built differently than the runners of his era. As a power runner his particularity was acceleration, but he was also surprisingly good at maintaining his maximum speed. In 1963, as a 21-year old, Hayes ran 200m in 20.4s, which was close to the world record at 20.3 (a record which had been set during that same year). Unfortunately there are no wind readings on Hayes’ result.
In the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Hayes won gold in both the 100 m- and the 4x100 m relay race, which made him famous worldwide. Additionally, the 100 m victory was won by over a 2 m margin and quite exceptionally Hayes led the race from beginning to end. Luckily for future generations, the winner received a fully automatic time, which means it can be compared to modern day results. Based on that, the manually timed result should’ve been declared as the world’s first 100 m race completed in under 10 seconds in legal conditions. But for some reason they ended up changing the electronically timed result from 10.06 to 10.0, although the manual time should supposedly have been somewhere between 9.85 and 9.90.
To fully understand the spectacularity of Hayes’ 10.06 record, keep in mind that it would have been enough to win gold in all the Olympics up until the year 1984, where it would’ve earned a silver medal. (Not taking into consideration Mexico’s exceptionally high altitude). To add to this, the Tokyo race took place on a cinder track, and to top it all off, Hayes was running in lane 1 which was worn from a 20 km racewalk from the previous day. And that’s not all. Hayes even ran the race in borrowed spike shoes, as he had forgotten his.
It is difficult to estimate the exact impact of the surface, but the following example may give us an idea: A young Bob Hayes enters the arena in the 1984 finals, where a specially prepared cinder track awaits him, worn from other usage. The others are running on a Mondo track. At 40 meters, the only one having kept up with Hayes is Ron Brown, and even then half a step behind. After this the crowd sees Hayes, and Hayes only, until Carl Lewis ends up passing him at the last moment. And that’s most likely because Hayes already has his eyes on the price, and Lewis manages to surprise him from behind with his final momentum. Sam Graddy manages to catch up a bit in the end, but ultimately falls a meter and a half short.
The average time in Olympic finals follows linearly a diminishing trend (attachment 2). There are of course some exceptions to this depending on the circumstances. Based on the photo finish and Hayes’ electrically timed result, the general average of the Tokyo Olympic finals was about 10.40. The 1984 average result was 10.24, and the lowest of today (2012), 9.83. Tracks, shoes, better application of preparation and improved training methods have all played a part in the development. Nutrition, legal supplements and probably doping have also played their parts. But what would be Hayes’ level if he was to compete today? The difference between the average of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics is 0.57 seconds. It wouldn’t be an outrageous idea that Hayes could be timed at 9.5 (10.06 – 0.57) if made run today- therefore challenging Usain Bolt at his best.
But how
fast could Bob Hayes have run 40 yards? There are no recordings of this,
neither manually nor electronically. Surprisingly though, there is an
electronically timed result from 1964 for a 60 yard distance, taken on February
22nd at the National AAU Indoor Track and Field championships at Madison Square
Garden. His result from a race in an indoors facility in New York, 5.99, still
remains unbroken, despite the fact that the indoor tracks at that time were
wooden. 5.99 corresponds to 4.24 in fully automated 40 yard time. (Fieldturf,
own start) or a 6.40 in a 60 m race on a modern track. Maurice Greene’s world
record is 6.39.
But what if Hayes had ran that distance under modern circumstances? The track speed of his time compared to the years 1986-1991, when Sam Graddy, Ismail Raghib, James Jett and James Trapp ran in the NCAA finals (55 m), can in return be compared to the NCAA reported results dating back to 1965. Results that have been adapted to correspond to electronic times have during that process become on average 0,2 seconds faster. (Attachment 3) In the turn of the 80’s and the 90’s Hayes’ time could’ve therefore been 5.79, or on a closer look- the stated manual time (5.9) 5.83 (5.9+0.13-0.2). A good comparison to this time is the separate timing at the 60 yard mark, 5.91, taken from Usain Bolt’s 100 m world record (9.58) (counted between every 10 meters).
The 60 yard time of 5.79-5.83 would be incredible. It would correspond to a fully automated NFL time of 4.05-4.10: less than 4 seconds in Combine-time, 3.75 in manual time or 6.25 in 60 meters on modern tracks!!!
Those results are hard to believe, but there is another source that supports this argument. At the Tokyo Olympics, Hayes had a huge lead from the very beginning, and the distance was at its largest just after 40 meters. At the 40 yard mark, the distance was, depending on the runner, 2-5 m, which is incredible when taking into consideration that next to him were the fastest men in the world. For example Ben Johnson- the man who took off as a rocket, and Usain Bolt in their respective world record sprints (Ben Johnson: 9.79, later disqualified, and Usain Bolt: 9.58, current record), led their opponents at the 40 yard mark by only half a meter.
Tokyo 1964
100 m Olympic final
Seoul 1988
100 m final Berlin 2009 100 m final
Based on
the analysis of attachment 4, Hayes’ 40 yard fully automated time, own start,
would have been 4.18-4.19, meaning exactly the same time as the world’s fastest
separate 40 yard timing in 100 meters without a reaction time. Those were the
separate timings of Usain Bolt’s 2008 and 2009 races. Hayes ran equally fast on
a cinder track worn by a 20 km racewalk, and in borrowed spikes. On a Super
Mondo X- track it would’ve easily been 4.10, and therefore fully supports the incredible
figures I presented.
40 y comb:
non corrected time, where the time keeper’s delay is 0.12 s. Fieldturf.
40 y hand:
a traditional manual timing, Fieldturf
40 y auto:
fully automated Fieldturf
40 y track:
fully automated Super Mondo with special spikes
60 m track:
fully automated Super Mondo with special spikes
60 m race:
the same with an average reaction time
100 m race:
an estimate based on the 60 m time. There is more dispersion in this.
Attachments
Attachment 1
Jacoby
Ford, the fastest NFL player, was timed at 6.51 s in 60 m on an indoor track.
Bolt’s 60 m outdoor track result adapted to an indoor track result is about
6.35. This is based on the average of Maurice Greene’s two results of 6.39 indoors, and his results in 60 m on outdoor tracks during that same
year. The times in the indoors facility were about 4/100 weaker. Bolt’s records
on outdoors tracks are 6.32 and 6.31.
Jacoby
Ford’s speed in 60 m in relation to Bolt’s is 6.51/6.35 = 1.0252. Under these
circumstances Ford would’ve ran the distance between the 30 and the 40 yard
mark on an outdoor track in 1.0252*0.8 = 0.82. The Fieldturf-time was 0.88,
meaning 0.82/0.88 = 0.93. The difference is therefore 1-0.93 = 0.07 = 7 %.
Obviously
this is only a rough estimate.
Attachment 2
The manual
times have been changed to electronic ones by adding 0.175
Attachment 3
The
manually timed results have been changed to electronic ones by adding 0.13
seconds to them. This is based on the estimate of the difference between the
years 1970-1975 and the electronic era that started in 1976, specifically in
the NCAA finals.
Attachment 4
The runner
up of the race, Enrique Figuerola from Cuba was a Maurice Greene-type of
excellent accelerator, that still managed to keep a good pace at the end, just
like Bob Hayes. Canada’s Harry Jerome, who came in third, was similarly to Carl
Lewis often lagging behind in the beginning, but seemed to be flying in
comparison to the others towards the end. Based on the photo finish and Hayes’
electronic time Figuerola’s time was 10.25, and Jerome’s 10.28-10.29.
Bob Hayes
had about a 2 m (=0.19 s) lead to Figuerola (2.) and roughly a 3 m (0.3 s) lead
to Jerome at the 40 yard mark.
With this,
Hayes’ result without reaction times was 4.18 based on Figuerola and 4.19 based
on Jerome. Obviously this is only an estimate, but presumably the magnitude is
on point.
Attachment 5
For the
video analysis, YouTube videos were filmed from the computer screen by a camera,
and then edited with the Windows Live Movie Editor. The start of the video is
set to the moment just before the hand comes off the starting line. The frame
rate is not sufficient enough to study the images on a 1/100 precision, but you
can get quite a precise idea of the arrival at the finish line if you observe
the distance to the finish line in the last picture before, and in the first
picture after the arrival at the finish line. According to my assessment the
error is at most 3/100, but supposedly less.
Attachment
6
