LSU's top NFL draft prospects will gather at the school's indoor practice field on Monday for the most important workout of their lives.
One by one, they'll crouch behind a line, coil into a three-point stance and prepare to run for glory.
Forty yards away, an army of scouts will wait eagerly at the finish line, stopwatches poised.
And after Monday, the players will likely never run the 40-yard dash again.
That's what's become of the more over-rated, over-hyped, over-emphasized instrument in the NFL talent evaluators' tool box.
The 40 is fool's gold. It's the NFL's version of the driver's test. Pass it once and you're in. After that, you're off the hook.
Jabari Greer was a standout track athlete and football player at the University of Tennessee. Back in 2004, he ran a time of 4.37 seconds in the 40 on his pro day but clocked a sub-par time of 4.5 at the combine.
Two months later he failed to hear his name called on draft weekend and had to settle for free-agent rookie contract with the Buffalo Bills.
How many times has Greer run the 40 since then?
"None," he said. Not once in five years as an NFL player with the Buffalo Bills. Never in training camp. Never in mini-camp. Never in practice.
In fact, Greer said NFL players would consider it an insult if coaches or trainers asked them to run the 40. "That's disrespectful in the league," Greer said. "Players would be like, 'I ran that at the combine. I'm a pro now. Football is football."
http://blog.nola.com/jeffduncan/2009/03/40yard_dash_is_just_a_waste_of.html
One by one, they'll crouch behind a line, coil into a three-point stance and prepare to run for glory.
Forty yards away, an army of scouts will wait eagerly at the finish line, stopwatches poised.
And after Monday, the players will likely never run the 40-yard dash again.
That's what's become of the more over-rated, over-hyped, over-emphasized instrument in the NFL talent evaluators' tool box.
The 40 is fool's gold. It's the NFL's version of the driver's test. Pass it once and you're in. After that, you're off the hook.
Jabari Greer was a standout track athlete and football player at the University of Tennessee. Back in 2004, he ran a time of 4.37 seconds in the 40 on his pro day but clocked a sub-par time of 4.5 at the combine.
Two months later he failed to hear his name called on draft weekend and had to settle for free-agent rookie contract with the Buffalo Bills.
How many times has Greer run the 40 since then?
"None," he said. Not once in five years as an NFL player with the Buffalo Bills. Never in training camp. Never in mini-camp. Never in practice.
In fact, Greer said NFL players would consider it an insult if coaches or trainers asked them to run the 40. "That's disrespectful in the league," Greer said. "Players would be like, 'I ran that at the combine. I'm a pro now. Football is football."
http://blog.nola.com/jeffduncan/2009/03/40yard_dash_is_just_a_waste_of.html
