Remember that cool 40-yard dash competition that was happening in the NFL offseason? The one that was kind of hyped by Ted Ginn and then was hyped more on most NFL websites because nothing else was going on in the NFL. Well, it happened and we all missed it and Marquise Goodwin won, but that’s about it.
This needs to be a thing. It should not get cancelled. At worst, the NFL should create some type of copy of this event and do it at the Pro-Bowl. We can even have divisions where defensive backs only race defensive backs and linemen only race linemen. This is something that needs to happen and it needs to happen fast. It’s like how the NBA refuses to make HORSE a thing at its all-star break. The NFL needs to take control of any 40-yard dash event.
Apparently only 2000-3000 people were at the event and viewership numbers were not available. The numbers could be good. They could be bad. We don’t know what expectations were. What we do know is that the event wasn’t marketed all that well after the initial push. There was no advertising, and nothing on social media. We found out about the event and that’s it. Now it’s done and we, as fans, don’t have much to show for it.
That’s why the NFL needs to take this thing over. Players are running and sprinting during their OTAs and minicamps. Make this something worthwhile to enter. It does a few things. It fills in this dreaded gap of time when nothing is happening during football, and it gets people talking about the NFL. If this was an NFL sanctioned event, the league could even pay winners — this means a sponsor would pay winners through it’s naming rights deal — which would get more players involved.
For the past few days we’ve only heard about the NBA and some MLB. An offseason event for the NFL could change that. It doesn’t even have to be that complicated. Yes, I miss football.
