THAT’S FAST!
Washington WR Ross sets Combine record with 4.22 seconds in 40-yard dash
JOHN ROSS doesn’t need no stinkin’ island.
The former University of Washington wide receiver is the new Usain Bolt of the NFL, as he broke Chris Johnson’s 40-yard dash combine record by running a lightning fast 4.22 in Indianapolis Saturday. Johnson ran a 4.24 back in 2008.
Adidas had created a widely publicized marketing stunt ahead of the Combine that if anyone were to break the 40-yard dash record in Adidas shoes they would receive an island (well, maybe) from the company. But Ross essentially shrugged his shoulders at that offer by wearing Nike’s instead. Why? “I really can’t swim that well,” Ross said on NFL Network. “And I don’t have a boat.” Good answer. It’s worth noting that, as Deadspin has already noted, the Adidas island give-away is basically a scam in which they wouldn’t actually have had to give Ross an island had he worn their cleats for the run and that he would have had to enter an endorsement agreement with Adidas despite the company not indicating in their contest offer what the terms of a such a deal would be.
Ross, who coincidentally was wearing No. 42 for his record run, actually resembled Bolt in that he pulled up before the end of the run and still was incredibly quick. That pull up was because of a calf cramp he felt during the run.
“I feel like I could have ran faster just because I cramped up towards the end,” Ross said.
That cramp prevented him from running a second 40-yard dash and also knocked him out from the rest of the day’s drills.
Nonetheless, the wide receiver certainly must have helped his stock ahead of next month’s NFL draft.
Heading into the combine, Ross was generally seen as a borderline first-round pick in mock drafts.