Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones famously ran 40 yards in 4.38 seconds at the NFL training combine five years ago with a broken bone in his foot. He did this in spite of being a larger man at 6-foot-3 and about 220 pounds.
Those factors led coach Dan Quinn to say he would pick Jones to take on Olympic champion Usain Bolt in a hypothetical race. The Jamaican sprinting star also is a tall (6-5) long-striding athlete.
Jones said he’s not sure how fast he could run 100 meters if he trained for it. But he raises an eyebrow when it was suggested he could probably run it in 10.5 seconds
“That was pretty high,” Jones said, smiling. “You are talking about 10.5? I’ve got to holler at you.”
That would be a respectable time for a good, adult athlete. It’s far too slow to compete with world-class sprinters, though, and certainly no match for Bolt.
As Jones walked away still grumbling about the 10.5 prediction, he said over his shoulder: “Maybe 9.9.”
That’s world-class speed, so Jones was joking (probably). Bolt ran the 100 in 9.86 to win the gold medal last week at the Rio Olympics, with Canada’s Andre DeGrasse second in 9.92.
Cornerback Robert Alford is one of a handful of Falcons players with a background in track. Alford, supremely confident as always, wasn’t joking when he said he could have made the Olympics if he had stuck with that sport.
“Of course I could have,” Alford said. “I still think I could do it.”
It would seem the fastest football players could make a smooth transition to running track. They’d have to train for the events and learn the fundamentals, but speed is speed.
But what about the other way around? Could Bolt’s all-world speed translate to the football field?
No one in the world can match Bolt’s top speed but he is notoriously slow out of the blocks compared to other world-class sprinters and short-area quickness is a must in football.
“I’ve never seen him change directions,” said Quinn, who competed in the hammer throw at Salisbury (Md.) State. “I know this much. You’d want to get him long down the field. I know if I was playing against him, I’d get up on that line and press him. If you’re going to give him free access like in a 4x100 (relay), you’re going to have some real troubles.”
Alford said straight-line runners like Bolt often have trouble getting changing directions, an essential quality for wide receivers running routes and cornerbacks covering them.
“You never know, though,” Alford said. “You have some cats that’s good at that. For example, I go against one every day in Julio. He’s fast straight line but he can come out of his breaks, too. It depends on what type of person you are and how you can translate that speed to football techniques.”
Falcons wide receiver Aldrick Robinson ran the 100 in 10.61 at Waxahachie (Tex.) High but said the 200 meter was his best event. He finished second at the Class AAAA state championships in 21.48.
Robinson said he watched a lot of the Rio track events and “they make me feel slow.” He said football would be a challenge for Bolt.
“But you never know,” he said. “Guys who are great athletes like that, you can’t count them out.”
It’s that line of thinking that leads to the conclusion that Jones could be a great track athlete if he focused on it. He won state titles in the long jump and triple jump at Foley (Ala.) High and as a senior ran the 100 in 11.13, good for second at the Class AAAAAA state championship meet.
Obviously Jones’ choice of football has worked out. But he remains in awe of Bolt’s talent.
“It’s amazing what he can do out there as far as his speed and the length,” Jones said. “Those (other) guys, once he opened up, they really don’t stand a chance. How much ground he covers once he gets going, he’s very impressive. Knowing he’s going to win and you still watch it, it’s exciting.”
