We all know that there’s nothing that gets judged more for an NFL prospect than his 40-yard-dash time, with teams becoming enamored with the speed a player can put on display while wearing nothing but compression shorts and no pads or a helmet.
After participating in it myself at last year’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis, I can tell you that the thing isn’t nearly as easy as one might think it is—or I’m just really, really slower than I think I am.
Seeing as how my time was pathetic, had I known about the deal that adidas is offering this year for the NFL prospect who can break the 40-yard-dash record, maybe I would’ve prepped a little harder.
That’s because the company is willing to shell out $1 million to the player who can snag the record—currently at 4.24 seconds—while wearing a pair of their 2016 adizero 5-Star 40 cleats.
The three-striped brand offered a similar contest last year, but the reward was “only” $100,000, so there’s 900,000 reasons why this year prospects should aim for the record.
The 2016 adizero 5-Star 40, which were specifically created for the 40-yard dash and weigh just 4.9 ounces, is the undisputed lightest cleat in football, so, for those players who want to run a fast 40-yard-dash time and, potentially, walk away with $1 million, I’d say it’s time to start training in the damn things to torch the competition in Indy.