4.24 seconds.
If you’re trying to slice a piece of paper in half, that’s not so fast, but when a human being is trying to run 40 yards on a football field, that’s straight blazin’ speed. So considering that’s the all-time NFL Combine record in the 40-yard dash is just nuts, as Chris Johnson set the mark during the 2008 event.
As hundreds of hopeful NFL players make their way to Indianapolis this week for the annual scouting combine, adidas knows that scouts are all about the 40-yard dash, so the company is offering $1 million to the prospect that, somehow, beats the record while wearing the company’s adizero 5-star 40 cleat.
Lucky for me, I scooped a pair and tested my speed in a pair of the 5-star 40s—and the results were pretty pathetic.
Now, as someone who ran the 40-yarder before in 5.5 seconds last year, I’m proud of the fact that I improved my time. But as someone who runs 5 miles each day, four times a week, this is pathetic. Seriously, how can I be considered an “athlete” when guys who look more like runaway beer trucks at the Combine would beat me?
For now, I’ll just take solace in the fact that the lightest football cleat ever helped be get my best 40-yard dash time ever and sip my 40-ounce beer while letting the real athletes try and break the record.
You can read up on the adizero 5-star 40 cleat on adidas’ website.