• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Click here to download the  free ebook of Alberto Juantorena’s  detailed training workouts leading up to the 1976 Montreal Olympics

SpeedEndurance.com

Success in Track & Field ... and Life

  • Home
    • About
    • Contact
  • Track & Field
    • 400 meters
    • 800m & Mile
    • 1/2 & Full Marathons
    • Long & Triple Jump
    • Hurdles
  • Training
    • Weight Training
    • Abs & Core
    • Injury Prevention
    • Shoes & Spikes
    • Masters
  • Coaching
    • Freelap Friday Five
    • Interviews
    • Sports Nutrition
    • Sport Psychology
  • Archives
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Checkout
    • Basket

First Chris Johnson, Now Jamaal Charles Wants to Run Track?

You are here: Home / 40 Yard Dash / First Chris Johnson, Now Jamaal Charles Wants to Run Track?
5
SHARES
FacebookTwitter

April 8, 2011 by Jimson Lee 6 Comments

NFL Kansas Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles is considering revisiting his Track & Field career should the NFL lockout drag on for months.

Rumour has it that he has spoken with Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson and Titans running back Chris Johnson about joining him on the Track & Field circuit this summer.

He quoted ESPN:

"Just try to get an agent, get a sponsor, try to get on with a team.  Maybe I could sponsor myself. All I’d have to do is get an offer by a team that could get me running track because you know, football season, you don’t know how long it’s going to go with the lockout."

Jamaal Charles sure has the potential to run Track in the big leagues.  His resume includes:

  1. Charles won the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the IAAF World Youth Championships.
  2. In High School, he won the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles Texas 5A state championships with times of 13.69 and 36.03 seconds.
  3. In 2006 Charles, he captured his first conference title and the third Big 12 100-meter title for Texas by winning the event in 10.23 at the Big 12 outdoor meet.
  4. At the 2006 NCAA outdoor Track and Field Championships, Charles finished fifth in the 100 meter finals and seventh in the 200 meter finals.
  5. As well, he ran the third leg of the 4 x 100 Texas Longhorn relay team, finishing fifth in the finals
  6. Chris Johnson does have a faster 40-yard dash time at the NFL Football Combine with 4.24 compared to Charles’ 4.36.
  7. Jamaal Charles personal bests include a 6.68 60-meter dash and a 10.18 100 meters during his freshman year at Texas University.
See also  2008 Harry Jerome Track Classic - 1500 meters Men

It will be an interesting summer.

Thoughts anyone?

Category icon40 Yard Dash,  Track & Field Tag iconAdrian Peterson,  Chris Johnson,  DeSean Jackson,  Jamaal Charles,  NFL Combine Results

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Eroszag says

    April 8, 2011 at 5:49 am

    He is way faster than CJ…40Y at the combine means not that much…Hope those 4 will run track this sprint, also Jacoby ford, Holliday, Spiller, Best….and that in June everything is solved, and we’ll have foot ball in september.

    Reply
  2. Eric Lepine says

    April 8, 2011 at 7:33 am

    Kind of funny and interesting, all these big-sport professionals wanting to go back to the track… Reminds me of an observation/debate somewhere (I forget where), as to why successful sprinters, until Usain Bolt, always tended to be shorter. The theory first went that someone of Bolt’s size could never make a good sprinter (say again?!!? LOL). But then, realizing how tall fellows could indeed make good sprinters, it was suggested that maybe there was, in reality, a social-economic filtering/sieving process. If you are fast AND tall, would you rather choose track (fewer money-making potentials, potentially shorter career – certainly less “dense” in terms of “events”) or one of the money-making major professional sports? According to this proposition then, track is left with the fast but relatively shorter athletes… Thoughts anyone?

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      April 8, 2011 at 12:06 pm

      @Eric, I always suggest Youth athletes to focus on speed, power and strength, as that will cover 90% of your sports. As they get older, they can specialize in the popular sports or the money ones. Hence the reason why College grads go for Football. But at the end of the day, everyone has a right to make money, and if these pro-footballers want to try to make money, why not? But I doubt they can match the Elite levels right away. Maybe after 2 solid seasons of training.

      Reply
  3. Markham says

    April 8, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    I think Charles’ Track & Field credentials look better than Chris Johnson’s considering his actual track PRs are faster (the Method the NFL combine uses to time the 40-yard wouldn’t pass Muster at an Elementary School track meet), not to mention his versatility.

    All that being said, these guys remind me of my college days….

    A guy ran track in HS and was pretty good, but plays football in college instead. Then somewhere around Soph or Jr year he decides to go back out for track, thinking: “well I had better PRs than that guy in HS, or I’m sure I can run with that guy”.

    So sometime in November they come out for track feeling pretty confident, maybe the first Monday is a speed day and they feel good running 30m and 60m dashes.

    But then……

    Tuesday-Friday hits, as do the following weeks.

    Then the Football player has to make a decision:

    Be a serious dual-sport athlete who works his butt off at both sports, or be a football player who runs track or a track athlete who plays football.

    Hence the reason the athlete who puts serious time into both sports is rare, and it’s why we’re often talking about a Football player’s Freshman or Sophomore year PRs.

    Track Athletes and Football players are often tremendous raw athletes and the talent for one can often be used for the other, but it takes true passion and dedication to do both. The guys who do both sports seriously are rare.

    These guys all think they “go out for track” and pull a Michael Bates or Bob Hayes, but if they’re just dabbling (especially the Chris Johnson’s of the world who want to challenge Bolt off the bat) – they’ve got another thing coming.

    The fact that he’s talking about “getting on a team” is funny to me, since there aren’t really any professional track teams.

    Don’t get me wrong if I were at that level I would participate in every sport I could, in fact it’s my ultimate dream.

    But at least I dunno, show more respect, be realistic, etc. This isn’t High School where you can do nothing all winter, go for track in April and get to states on talent alone. Gay, Asafa, Bolt and the rest have been preparing for this since OCTOBER!

    Reply
    • Jimson Lee says

      April 13, 2011 at 12:02 pm

      @Markham, I think these ex-track guys can train for 12-16 weeks, and maybe get a decent time in the 10.10-10.20 range, but on a one shot deal SB or PB basis. There’s a huge difference trying to be consistent for several meets from May-Aug.

      Reply
  4. Markham says

    April 13, 2011 at 1:13 pm

    The other issue is that considering few of these guys ran past Freshman or Sophomore year is that they probably weigh quite a bit more than they did during their track days. Tyson Gay is what 5’11” and 165-170? Chris Johnson is shorter and weighs 195. Plus the wear and tear of playing NFL football (especially for the Running Backs), could be a factor too.

    I think Jacoby Ford would have the most success, only two years removed from a NCAA championship and his height and weight is more inline with a pro track athlete than a football player.

    I’m kind of curious what Jeff Demps will do after his career at Florida is over, he’s already under 10s in the 100m and could be even faster if he shed 5-10 lbs of his football bulk.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recommended

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbs-aWxyLk

Shop Our Store

  • Bud Winter (9)
  • Championship Productions (6)
  • Clyde Hart (2)
  • Derek Hansen (1)
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation (2)
  • Jim Hiserman (6)
  • Jimson Lee (4)
  • Uncategorised (0)

Articles by Category

Products

  • Jim Hiserman - Developing 800m Runners: Identifying, Categorizing and Developing 400m-800m Type Athletes $42.99 $39.99
  • Private Coaching - Monthly Plan $600.00 $525.00
  • Jim Hiserman-Developing-Distance-Runnersv2 Jim Hiserman - Developing Distance Runners Volume 2: A Systematic Approach to Developing Individual Success within a Dynamic Team Culture $34.95 $29.95
  • Feed-the-Cats-Clinic-3-Pack-701 'Feed the Cats' Clinic 3-Pack $64.99
  • Tony Holler's Feed the Cats": A Complete Sprint Training Program Tony Holler's "Feed the Cats" Complete Sprint Training Program $49.99
  • Bud Winter and Speed City presents Arthur Lydiard 509x716 Bud Winter & Arthur Lydiard MP3 [Download only] $9.99

RECENT POSTS

  • Oregon22 Coaches Club now Online
  • IFAC 2022: The Return of In-Person Conferences (with Virtual option)
  • Here is our 400m Discussion Recording… over 2 Hours Long
  • The Best Free Coaching Book – post Beijing 2022 Olympics
  • The Ultimate 400m Track Webinar for Coaches & Athletes
  • NACAC Athletics Coaching Science Series 2022
  • Top Six 400m Predictor Workouts (Number 4 is my Favourite)
  • Best 6 Podcasts for 2021 (and Beyond)
  • Why Karsten Warholm’s 45.94 400mH WR is my Highlight of 2021
  • Sprinting: 10 Research Articles for Effective Sprint Training [Part 23]

Copyright © 2023. SpeedEndurance.com is owned and operated by Aryta Ltd. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}