By IContributing writer
The fastest man in the NFL believes he’s also the fastest man in the world
Tyreek Hill is serious about racing Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles in a 50-yard dash. The Miami Dolphins receiver officially and publicly threw down the gauntlet on social media on Sunday.
“Sign the contract and lock in that 50-yard race,” Hill wrote.
This back and forth between the athletes began when Hill — generally viewed as the fastest player in the NFL — said he could beat Lyles in a race. Lyles won the gold medal in the men’s 100-meters at the Paris Olympics, thus seizing the unofficial title of fastest man in the world.
“I would beat Noah Lyles,” Hill said on the “Up and Adams” show last week. “I wouldn’t beat him by a lot, but I would beat Noah Lyles.”
Hill also questioned whether Lyles was really sick when he won bronze in the men’s 200-meters race after testing positive for COVID. The sprinter later withdrew from the men’s 4×100-meter relay final due to his illness.
When asked about Hill’s remarks on the “Nightcap” podcast, Lyles said the outspoken NFL star is “just chasing clout” and challenged him to back up the bold assertion.
“He’s challenging me to race in the 100? We can race,” Lyles said. “If he’s serious about it, if he’s truly serious about it — I’m not talking about, you’re just talking on the internet and you ain’t actually coming to me and talking to my agent and saying let’s set something up — if you’re serious about it, you’ll see me on the track.”
It’s worth noting that Hill said he wanted to face Lyles in a 50-yard race, perhaps believing that the Olympic star would overtake him in 100 meters, while NFL players are typically measured in 40-yard dashes. That distance might be part of a negotiation if Hill’s representatives were to talk with Lyles’ people to make this race actually happen.
When such a competition would take place is another question. Presumably, the Dolphins would not want this to happen during the season. This would be a great event to schedule for the Pro Bowl Games during the week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.
However, this seems more likely to be an offseason event. Maybe during the NFL scouting combine, since speed is already a prominent topic among fans, media, scouts and NFL executives? It’s apparently time to let agents — and probably TV executives — do the talking.