He was the star of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The fastest man on the planet. And Usain Bolt’s record-setting times in the 100- and 200-metre sprints were eye-popping.
Michael Phelps might have won eight gold medals, but Bolt won three and every one was in a glamour event. The title “Fastest Man on Earth,” is bestowed only once or twice — legitimately — in a generation and the 22-year-old Jamaican sprinter, who ran a remarkable 9.72 seconds in the 100, is clearly the fastest man on the planet.
Which makes him a pretty good candidate to be the NFL’s next game-breaking wideout.
On Aug. 23, the former vice-president in charge of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, Gil Brandt, wrote a column on nfl.com. In it he said, “If Hall of Fame general manager Tex Schramm and I were still running the Cowboys, we’d be in Jamaica right now waiting for Bolt’s plane to land.”
Brandt went on to say that under his watch, a contract would be offered, and Bolt would be given every opportunity to play for the Cowboys. Brandt did not say that he believed Bolt would make a great NFL player. He simply said that Bolt had speed that couldn’t be taught while, at the same time, football skills could be taught, and from the days — way back — when the Cowboys signed the world’s fastest human of the moment, Bob Hayes, the team has put a lot of its eggs in the speed basket.
Granted Cincinnati Bengals wideout Chad Johnson says he’d like to race Bolt, but Bolt has run a timed 4.2 40-yard dash while Johnson’s best is, evidently, 4.54 at the NFL combine. Advantage: Bolt.
And that makes a move by Bolt to football quite intriguing. He’s big — 6-foot-5, about 215 — has a strong upper body and is, YES, the fastest human on the planet.
So why not? Hayes was great. But then again, Skeets Nehemiah was a bust.
“Skeets is one of those track guys who didn’t like to get hit,” said Winnipeg Blue Bombers wideout Derick Armstrong, a former star at Arkansas-Monticello.
“Bolt has the size and speed, no question, but can he take a hit? That’s the question.”
This past Tuesday night, Armstrong was part of Hot Stove panel of current and former Bombers speaking at the Hearts of Blue and Gold for Variety dinner at Earl’s St. Vital Restaurant in Winnipeg. As the host for the evening, I asked him on behalf of the crowd, if he thought Bolt could be a pro receiver.
“I guess, if you stuck him outside and just let him run and threw it as far as you could, he’d probably outrun the corner and the safety,” Armstrong said. “But can he catch a football? Maybe.
“The real question is, can he take a hit? If he’s going to be a receiver, he’s gotta run a route and take the occasional shot from a linebacker. I can tell you, that hurts. If he can do that — and do it more than once — I guess he can play. I’d like to see it, though.”
A lot of us would like to see it. Usain Bolt in the NFL is an intriguing prospect. Wonder if the league has any Gil Brandts left?