Athletes

[TheMutts]

My friends and I got into a long debate the other day. We were arguing how the speed of NFL WR's compares to the faster soccer players. They were shocked that I thought Soccer players were just as fast, and has made me rethink my opinion.

What does everyone else think? How Wide Recievers much faster than soccer players?



To make this go a little farther who do you think the fastest soccer players are?

What about jumping? how do soccer players compare to WR's in that?

[leg_breaker]

It's easy to be fast when you don't have a ball to deal with.

[rgrayson]

The only reason I know is because I saw it printed in a magazine last week but Freddy Adu is pretty young and runs a 4.6 second 40yd dash. I can imagine Henry or Martins can do better than that so I'd say soccer's fastest players are just as fast as the NFL's recievers.

[DaPrince84]

The only reason I know is because I saw it printed in a magazine last week but Freddy Adu is pretty young and runs a 4.6 second 40yd dash. I can imagine Henry or Martins can do better than that so I'd say soccer's fastest players are just as fast as the NFL's recievers.
NFL recievers run like 4.3-4.6...

[King-James]

I'd be suprised if there were many high quality soccer players that are faster than most NFL wide recivers. The agility, sprinting, and jumping ability is just so highly valued among them. The technical skills of the game, while important for WRs, aren't as big in value compared to soccer players.

Maybe that top .5% fastest pro soccer players are faster than the average NFL WR. But I doubt it's much more than that.

[Duck Manson]

put henry on steroids and hed outrun anyone in the nfl.

anyway theres a colombian who is supposedly faster then the best 100 meter runners. he ironically comes from a place called turbo. hes a right-back if i recall. anyone know about this guy?

[King-James]

put henry on steroids and hed outrun anyone in the nfl.


Actually, this is a good point to consider.
NFL players not only have far less strict doping controls to evade, but wide recievers can take more roids and such than fast soccer players... because the injury risk for a soccer player is greater (*cough* Ronaldo *cough*).

NFL players don't last nearly as long in the pros anyway, and have only 16 games a season to show they deserve that big contract. Note how there are a lot of 'flash in the pan' cyclists that come out of nowhere with amazing ability, then get a big contract and become mediocre for the rest of their career (probably partially because they dont want to risk getting caught doping so much)

[rgrayson]

NFL recievers run like 4.3-4.6...

Exactly my point. I would put money on Henry or Martins being able to run at least .2 of a second faster than Adu at around a 4.3 or 4.4 40yd dash. Making them as fast as the NFL recievers.

[nicephoras]

Actually, this is a good point to consider.
NFL players not only have far less strict doping controls to evade, but wide recievers can take more roids and such than fast soccer players... because the injury risk for a soccer player is greater (*cough* Ronaldo *cough*).

NFL players don't last nearly as long in the pros anyway, and have only 16 games a season to show they deserve that big contract. Note how there are a lot of 'flash in the pan' cyclists that come out of nowhere with amazing ability, then get a big contract and become mediocre for the rest of their career (probably partially because they dont want to risk getting caught doping so much)

Actually, the NFL has a pretty strict foreign substance regimen. Its not baseball. And with a very few exceptions for players like Rommedahl, Gronkjaer and the like, NFL wide receivers and cornerbacks are considerably faster than football players.

[King-James]

Actually, the NFL has a pretty strict foreign substance regimen.

Being banned one month for taking steroids isn't exactly strict.

[Excape Goat]

Speed is not emphasized as much in soccer as in NFL. I always thought that if you are a fast runner,you either run the 100s or become a wide receiver. Many wide-receivers were also track stars at the NCAA level. American football basically recruits athletes from the track teams and turned them into cornerbacks or wide-receivers. We are talking about 100m runners at the Olympic level. In the late 1980s, Ron Brown was an Olympic gold medalist for the 4 X 100. The combined times of the four wide-receivers on his team were good enough to win a medal for the 4X100 at the Olympics at that time. He was, of course, a very fast man, but in NFL, many WRs actually came close to his times. So we are talking about a position that should be compared to the 100m in tracks.

[Duck Manson]

Being banned one month for taking steroids isn't exactly strict.last time i saw this come up it was two games for the first offense and two months for the second (minimum two years and then life everywhere else). that may have been changed though. obviously youd have to be a complete idiot (damon stoudamire style) to get caught as theyre not allowed to test players without prior notice. i dont mind that they use the drugs. i couldnt care less. but then they cant be compared with clean athletes.

[Henry Porter]

Martins and Ronaldo in his prime would outrun any WR in the league. However, any TE could outrun Vieri at this time.

[celito]

WRs are built more like sprinters for short runs while soccer players need a mix of sprinting and endurance capabilities. So naturally WRs will usually be faster in a sprint.

Plus, like everyone has said already, they don't have to run with balls at their feet.

[johno]

American Football WRs are on average imo faster than most fast players in Football - but there are definitely some fast football players, faster than many WRs.

David Odonkor is stupid fast. I think he clocks sub 10, in training kit.
Kieran Richardson is stupid fast as well.
Henry, ditto. I can't figure there are too many WRs who could leave those three or CRonaldo in their wake.

I'll also add that there's atleast 1 player on most teams that isn't rated highly but is very very fast. Richardson is a great example. Barely plays, but runs like the wind.

[nicephoras]

Being banned one month for taking steroids isn't exactly strict.

Testing and penalties aren't the same thing.

[Association_Football]

On average, WRs will be fater than FWs. But some FWs I believe is faster than most WRs. We will never know unless they sprint against each other. Also remember, Ato Bolden, a great 100 meter sprinter, was a amateur soccer player.

[astabooty]

This is question is so poorly constructed. Are you only going to compare the top 5 fastest soccer players to top 5 football players, then it has nothing to do with the sport as a whole. I am sure one could find 5 baseball/rugby/hockey players that are blazing fast, but that does not mean most pro-athletes in that sport are fast.

Then you should clear up whether it is only the top 5 or so fast guys or top 5 good players that are also fast, which would mean no rommedahl bs.

Also, do positions matter? American football would get killed if you want to throw in offensive linemen.

If you are going to rank the fast, good players, NFL wins easily.

The NFL has about 1800 players I would say, that about the amount in the "big 4" leagues. I think the NFL still wins out there if you are going to choose the top 100 or so.

If it is in the world, soccer should win.

All I know is give me these players at their fastest and I bet they would burn soccer players:
Devin Hester, Markus Maxey, Deion Sanders, Randy Moss, Reggie Bush, Antwon Bolden, Andre King, Michael Vick, Santana Moss, well really...the list doesnt end with football.

On every football team there is probably at least 1 player that could hang in the Olympics.

[mak9]

just in case anyone cares, ronaldo seems to have the record where he ran 40 m in 3.88s and was achieved last august

[benni...]

NFL recievers run like 4.3-4.6...

Hell, thats what Linebackers run now a days.