So instead of roughly 0.24 seconds being added to your time as soon the gun goes off, you get to take that OFF your time, plus the human who reacts and stats the clock has to REACT to the athlete who is already running.

So unlike a hand timed (or partially) hand timed where both timer and athlete are reacting are reacting to the same gun, the athlete moves and then the timer reacts. Both of those items could easily remove 0.5 seconds from ones time, because by the time the athlete is moving he’s already 0.24 into his sprint and he’s already benefiting from not having that 0.24 added to his time from having to react to the gun.

Think: the guy is 0.24 seconds into his sprint by the time the clock starts, and he wasn’t in the blocks for 0.24 seconds after the gun went off.

These 4.2s and 4.3s, would be 4.7s and 4.8s if timed by IAAF standards.

Plus on the combine today they were saying how you’re decelerating towards the end of the 40-yard, NO top sprinter in college (let alone world class) is decelerating at that point, more like accelerating through 50-60 meters.

A track sprinter would smoke these guys in the 60, let alone the 100.

Second, when measuring the 40 yard dash the NFL does not start the clock until the runner starts. The runner does not have to hear a gun and then react to that and then run. The average reaction time is .24 seconds- that is a world of a difference in someone’s 40 time. If it is electronic, which I would imagine is pretty standard now.. the human timer “starts” the electronic timer when the player starts, thus eliminating the .24 second reaction time. A computer stops the clock when the player crosses the finish line. A hand timed 40 have variations of around 0.5 seconds rendering these times useless for any comparisons. The NFL system would be considered partial electronic since a human starts the clock. In track and field, the starting gun is connected to the electronic timing system so when the trigger is pulled the clock is started and the runners react.

Why the NFL does not consider reaction speed important is beyond me. Players have to react to the ball being hiked. The NFL way of doing it was probably born out of showing that their atheletes were at or better than the fastest men in the world. Obviously, that is pure speculation but it’s the only logical assumption I can come up with. In reality, any world class sprinter would not be able to be touched by 99.9% of NFL players.

As for Gatlin, he is either out of shape, injured, or just is not used to not reacting to a gun. I’d say out of shape although it’s really anyone’s guess. It just doesn’t follow that his start isn’t better than any football player- and the fact that no NFL player comes close to his sub 10 100m times.

Imagine if in track we were tested for reaction time? 0.100 would be excellent, and 0.250 horrible (which I’ve seen for Quarter Milers, or in the NCAA where one false start and your gone)

If we took reaction time seriously, we might as well subtract it from the actual time. Afterall, it is THE ACTUAL running time!

Ben Johnson’s 9.79 would really be a 9.65 (less 0.120)

At the NFL combine I think the highest vertical was around 36 inches and the longest standing long jump was just over 10 feet, and they had a few sub 4.4 40/

How many of the Tennessee athletes put up better numbers on a percentage basis?

2 percent of the NFL combine athletes run sub 4.4, Tennessee had a 70 percent rate. Zero percent 40 inch verticals, Tennessee 90 percent.

What are the odds really?