Former NFL WR Chad Johnson’s inaugural speed competition took place this weekend.
The 40-yard dash competition called, “40 Yards of Gold” happened over the weekend with $1 million in prize money on the line. NFL stars from several different teams gathered for the event, but there was one notable absence. The NFL’s actual fastest man, Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill, did not participate in the event.
Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. took to Twitter on Saturday to ask the question that Chiefs fans and many others have been asking leading up to this event. How can you have a competition to determine the fastest player in the NFL, without actually having the fastest player in the NFL at the event?
I’ll answer that question for you, Chris.
Hill was left off the roster for this contest because when it was being assembled Hill was in the midst of clearing his name from allegations of child abuse. He’s already been convicted in the court of public opinion. Bad publicity over his potential addition to the roster of competitors was likely a fear of organizers of the event.
Hill has since been cleared of criminal charges and the NFL is working to determine if he’s violated their personal conduct policy.
But Harris’ support for Hill as the NFL’s fastest man is not unfounded. He’s competed against both the contest winner Marquise Goodwin and Hill. If Hill is allowed to compete in 2020’s competition, Harris already knows who he’s taking between the two.
If you don’t trust Harris’ judgement on this, there are facts to support the conclusion too. Hill’s 200 meter time was so fast in high school that he would have placed sixth in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
As for Goodwin, according to International Association of Athletics Federations, his fastest legal 200 meter score was over a full second slower than Hill.
Hopefully, this 40-yard dash debate will be settled next year and Hill will be permitted to compete.
Until then, he’ll be laughing, working and waiting for the 2019 NFL season.
