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Originally Posted by NFLHITMAN |
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This argument I have never understood LOL. Everybody gets graded on there 40 without pads and when they get on the football field doesn't EVERYONE have pads on? That means he was the fastest without pads and will be the fastest with pads because EVERYONE else is in pads also 
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There's speed, and there's football speed. By the way, it's been proven that these "times" are so varied and so prone to human error, wind, etc. that they're not "true" times. There was a thread about all this and these 4.19 etc. times haven't been accomplished by the fastest humans in history in track and field, etc.
Jerry Rice coming out of college was considered "slow" by some because he ran something like a 4.6 at the combine. Then on the 49'ers, he was splitting secondaries down the middle, out running corners on fly patterns, catching hitches and taking them to the house. He had "football speed". Some guys get the ball in their hand and they're faster than anything that the combine can measure because they're great FOOTBALL PLAYERS.
Here's an analogy, what good is having the fastest guy on your baseball team playing center field if he can't get a jump on the ball?? The center fielder who pauses a second or takes a wrong step will never get to the ball quicker than the "slow" guy who's moving in the right direction at the crack of the bat. It's a 20 yard dash to the ball and you're spotting the slower guy a few steps, the faster guy will never catch him.
Football, Dick Butkus, known as a brute. In high school his baseball coach said Butkus had incredible "little man" skills, agility, coordination, quickness, he was a big cat. He used those "little man" skills to be a great middle linebacker, he was always "there", he had football speed.
How many potential Dick Butkus' and Jerry Rice's have fallen through the cracks of the combine due to "speed" and how many times they can bench press 235 pounds, etc. I would guess hundreds. If Wayne Chrebet didn't play at Hofstra would he have gotten a chance with the Jets??? Tons of guys who are great football players don't get a chance. Tons of guys with bodybuilder bodies and fast 40 times get repeated shots, they think they can "coach em' up", sometimes they can, sometimes they can't, but the guy who was a late bloomer or dominated at an unknown school won't get a second look, it's not an exact science.
There's a ton of veteran guys in the NFL who if you made them run 40 times today would be "slow", but if they're smart they will make the play 9 times out of 10 better than the young "fast" guy.