Usain Bolt would ‘scare a lot of people’ as an NFL receiver, says Tony Dungy
The Hall of Fame coach thinks Usain Bolt could make some noise as a wide receiver.
Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images
Usain Bolt proved for the third straight Olympics that he’s the fastest man ever — and it’s really not that close. The Jamaican sprinter earned three gold medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter relay, sweeping the sprint events in Rio, just like he did in London and just like he did in Beijing.
So naturally it’s fun to think about what Bolt could do if he took that natural speed and talent to a team sport ... like football, perhaps. If the 6’5, 207-pound Bolt lined up at receiver, would he be able to rack up big numbers?
Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy isn’t sure if it’s an experiment that would work, but he’s positive that Bolt will at the very least make NFL defensive backs nervous:
“I don’t know if he can survive, but he’d scare a lot of people,” Dungy told NBC’s Dan Patrick. “I would use him as a wide receiver and we would definitely clear out one side of the field because he is so explosive and fast, it would be fun to see him on a football field.”
Former Detroit Lions speedy running back Jahvid Best got a chance to run against Bolt in the Rio Olympics as a member of the Saint Lucia Olympic Team but didn't qualify past the heats in the 100. Best, who ran a 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds in the 2010 NFL Draft, finished the race in 10.39 seconds, while Bolt finished in 10.07.
Bolt later won the event with a time of 9.81 seconds, well behind his world record of 9.58 seconds, but still ahead of the rest of the Olympic field.
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