I read this story of NFL.com as well as I heard about it on ESPN earlier today. Lot's of NFL teams are apparently taking a look at Jamaican world record setting sprinter, Usain Bolt. Before I go any further I feel the need to say that I respect all athletes in every sport...being a sports fan and having played sports in high school I have utmost respect for what all athletes do.
Now that I've got that out of the way if some NFL team were to sign Usain Bolt it would be a gigantic mistake. The guy is an excellent sprinter and it's incredible impressive what he did during the Olympics, but this is football. Straight line speed means very little in football, there's hardly ever been, at least in my experiences, where a guy can take the football and just run straight up field without needing at least one cut. I'm not saying that Bolt couldn't make the cuts, it's just difficult to adjust to that.
He has great size..he's 6'6", that's great for a reciever. As I said before, and as everyone here knows, football is a different game. You can't just be exposed to it for a year and expect to be NFL ready, world class athlete or not. There's a reason you have to be at least 3 years removed from graduating high school to enter the NFL draft, you're just not physically ready for it. Usain Bolt is a fantastic athlete, but is not a football player.
But, this just wouldn't be a big mistake for an NFL team to sign Bolt, this would be a huge mistake for Bolt to sign with an NFL team. One hit...that's all it takes, and then he wouldn't be able to run either. The guy can run, we all know that, can he run with pads on? That takes some getting used to. What about taking a hit? It's a whole nother experience when you take that first hit..I can't describe it, anyone else whose played football knows what I'm talking about. Would he be able to bounce back from the first time being hit?
There's just so much that goes into being a football, that takes a whole lot of adjusting. Is Usain Bolt able to handle it? Only Usain Bolt can answer these questions. I have a tough seeing this work out. But, in all fairness I have a tough time whenever I hear about an athlete in any sport making an attempt to crossover to another sport, or just rumors of it happening. Tell me what you guys think?
Julie Henderson
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I'm not really in favor of the idea, but you brought up some good points about straight line speed. That leads me to think that if an NFL teams want to take a chance on Bolt, will they tend to use him on kick off and punt returns first and then maybe work him into a WR spot?
Red Zone
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You're probably right Red Zone..that would more than likely be the easiest for him.
badgerfan07 back in…
Whitewater , WI
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In a sense the NFL has tried this before. They tried really hard to put some local talent on the field with the WFL. The obvious was at WR.
The local boys developed fast and looked awesome... until the 1st day of contact.
Not many came back for the 2nd day.
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Frellin Cold In, AK
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