By 
You’ve seen the same Twitter banter dozens of times. A National Football League pundit claims a professional football player could run faster than any of the top sprinters on the track & field scene.
Track athletes such as world championship medalists Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell are quick to clap back. But it’s a good question—could NFL athletes beat top sprinters at their own game? Professional wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs Tyreek Hill, for example, owns a wind-aided 100-meter personal best of 9.98 from 2013, when he was in junior college. However, Hill failed to even beat a rookie linebacker in the NFL’s Fastest Man 40-yard dash, which lead to some mockery from 100-meter world record-holder Usain Bolt.
The NFL recently released a video featuring the fastest ball carriers of 2022. So we decided to crunch the numbers to see just how fast those players actually are when compared to professional track & field athletes.
More From Runner's World
Christian Watson (Wide Receiver - Green Bay Packers)
- Top speed: 21.72 mph
- Meters-per-second: 9.710
- Calculated 100-meter dash time: 10.30
DeSean Jackson (Wide Receiver - Baltimore Ravens)
- Top speed: 21.72 mph
- Meters-per-second: 9.710
- Calculated 100-meter dash time: 10.30
Breece Hall (Running Back - New York Jets)
- Top speed: 21.87 mph
- Meters-per-second: 9.777
- Calculated 100-meter dash time: 10.23
Kenneth Walker III (Running Back - Seattle Seahawks)
- Top speed: 22.09 mph
- Meters-per-second: 9.876
- Calculated 100-meter dash time: 10.13
Parris Campbell (Wide Receiver - Indianapolis Colts)
- Top speed: 22.11 mph
- Meters-per-second: 9.885
- Calculated 100-meter dash time: 10.12
Fred Kerley (2022 100-Meter World Champion)
- 100-meter dash time: 9.76
- Meters-per-second: 10.246
- Miles per hour: 22.92
Usain Bolt (100-Meter World Record-Holder)
- 100-meter dash time: 9.58
- Meters-per-second: 10.439
- Miles per hour: 23.36
And the results are...
Not only are the sprint athletes faster in every category, but their times don’t even reflect top speed like the NFL athletes’ do. Belgian scientists found that Bolt’s top speed could reach 27.33 miles per hour, which blows every competitor out of the water.
NFL defenders will undoubtably say things like, ‘well, Bolt didn’t have to catch a football’ or ‘Bolt didn’t have to break through linebackers.’ And while that is indeed true, let’s look at one final stat: Every football player runs the 40-yard dash. Well, Bolt ran a 4.22 40-yard dash at the Super Bowl in 2019, tying the NFL record—while wearing sweatpants and sneakers.
Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
