Yes, Adidas announced it would give away an island to any NFL Combine participant who was able to run a sub-4.24 40-yard dash. But even though Washington wide receiver John Ross officially bested the mark set by Chris Johnson in 2008, he’s not winning an island from Adidas. He was wearing the wrong shoes.
John Ross won’t win an island from Adidas even though he broke Chris Johnson’s 40 record
You’ve got to read the fine print.
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Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
One of the stipulations in the Adidas island contest was that any participant who broke the record had to be wearing Adidas shoes. Ross, alas, was wearing Nike.
Noooooo. You’ve got to read the fine print, John Ross!
It was unlikely Adidas would end up giving away an island, anyway. The company reserved the right to give any winner $1 million instead of an island. There were plenty of other stipulations, including an endorsement deal with the winner for the 2017 season. If the winner fails to live up to the terms of that agreement, Adidas has the option to take the island back.
These are not things that John Ross will have to worry about, because he was wearing Nike shoes. Maybe Nike has a nice island laying around somewhere that they’d like to give Ross for his efforts, but probably not.
Still, Ross is one of the top receivers in this class, and is projected by most analysts as a first-round pick. He won’t win an island, but he did help his draft stock with that blazing fast 40 time.
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