Football Playing "make believe" with yet another Olympic sprinter. - Page 2

Direckshun · 08-20-2008, 08:07 PM

http://www.bobgretz.com/chiefs-footb...-he-catch.html

But Can He Catch?
August 20, 2008 - Bob Gretz |

What would you think if the Chiefs went out and signed a 6-5, 190-pound wide receiver who will be 22 years old on Thursday?

Oh, did I mention he’s fast. Very fast. I mean very, very, very fast.

That guy is available. His name is Usain Bolt.

If you havent’ been paying attention to the Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, China then Bolt may not be a familiar name. He should be. On Wednesday, the Jamaican sprinter won the gold medal in the 200 meters, setting a world record in 19.3 seconds. Combined with his victory in the 100 meters (another world record in 9.69 seconds), Bolt is the first man to sweep the 100 & 200 in the same games since Carl Lewis in 1984.

How fast is this guy? His time in the 200 meters broke down to 9.65 seconds in each 100 meters, which was faster than his world-record time in the 100 meters.

If you saw Bolt on television you know that he’s one chiseled guy, with something like 5 percent body fat. He’s got no background in the game of football, not even as a kid playing in the neighborhood. Growing up in Jamaica, Bolt played cricket and it was there that his great speed and athletic ability first became evident.

That would make it very tough for Bolt to survive in the NFL. Former sprinter and NFL wide receiver Willie Gault said Wednesday that it would be a “difficult task” to get Bolt up to speed on the gridiron.

But history has shown us that the fastest man alive can sometimes make the transition to football, of course it always helps if he had a background in the game before hitting Olympic gold.

It was 44 years ago that a young man out of Florida named Bob Hayes. In the 1964 Summer Games in Tokoyo, Hayes won the 100 meters in a world record time of 10 seconds. That same year, the Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the seventh round of the NFL Draft and the Denver Broncos took him in the 14th round in the AFL Draft. Hayes had played football at Florida A&M and after signing with the Cowboys, he played 11 seasons. Hayes caught 371 passes for 7,414 yards and 71 TD passes.

At that same ‘64 Olympics Henry Carr won the gold medal in the 200 meters. He played three seasons (37 games) with the New York Giants as a safety.

In the ‘68 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Jimmy Hines won the 100 meters in 9.95 seconds. Hines came out of Texas Southern University where he played some football. The Miami Dolphins drafted him in the sixth round of the 1968 NFL Draft and he signed with the Fins four days after the Olympics ended. Hines played in 10 games with Miami in that ‘69 season, catching two passes and returning one kickoff. Near the end of the ‘70 season, Hines was available and he signed with the Chiefs, playing in one game.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos who won gold and bronze in the 200 meters became better known for their medal platform protest in Mexico City. Smith played in two games with the Cincinnati Bengals in ‘69, catching one pass for 41 yards. Carlos was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, spent one year there, most of that time injured and he then spent two years in the Canadian Football League.

Robert Taylor won the silver medal in the 100 meters at the ‘72 Olympics in Munich, finishing behind Russia’s Valeri Borzov. Taylor had a tryout with the Chiefs after the Olympics but nothing came of his football career.

Sam Graddy won the silver medal in the 100 meters at the ‘84 Olympics in Los Angeles, finishing behind Carl Lewis. Graddy went on to play two seasons with the Denver Broncos and three years with the Los Angeles Raiders.

Michael Bates won the bronze medal in the 200 meters in the ‘92 Olympics in Barcelona. Bates went on to have a Pro Bowl career as a special teams player with the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks.

The Chiefs once had another Olympic sprinter in uniform. That was Stone Johnson, who ran in the ‘60 Olympics in Rome. He also played college football at Grambling and he signed with the Chiefs and went to their first training camp in ‘63. It was during a pre-season game in August that was played in Wichita where Johnson suffered a broken neck and died 10 days later. His number 33 has never been worn by a Chiefs player since his death.

teedubya · 08-20-2008, 10:23 PM

dude is too big of a joker to do any football. The guy is a clown. A very, very, very fast clown.

Mecca · 08-20-2008, 11:04 PM

Gatlin was on the Vols football team for a season....

I think a guy like him is worth a look you can't teach speed but honestly he's one of those guys were if you got a QB with an arm you go....dude just ran as fast as you can and I'll throw it with all I got and we'll see if we can hook it.

I don't think it would be possible to overthrow him.

08-20-2008, 11:20 PM

Joe Delaney ran on Northwestern Louisiana's NCAA championship 4x100 team with Mark Duper in the early 80's.

**DaneMcCloud** · 08-21-2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaKCMan AP

The Chiefs had John Capel in camp when DV was here.. but Capel could not catch.

Capel was a stoner that was busted for pot on several occasions.

He was a mental case, regardless of whether or not he had the physical tools.

Megbert · 08-21-2008, 12:35 AM

he's no Sippio.

JuicesFlowing · 08-21-2008, 01:29 AM

I wasn't aware that Bolt (great name for a lightning-fast sprinter) wanted to play in the NFL. It would be an awful decision to throw money at this guy and lure him into playing a game he's not qualified for. Why do people even talk about this? Gretz disappointed me with this stupid article ...

jidar · 08-21-2008, 07:19 AM

The thing about Bolt that I don't see anyone talking about is how fking big the dude is. He's 6'5" and the fastest man alive. Holy shit? When standing at the starting line all of the other 100m sprinters were about his shoulder height and yet he blew right past them. I see that size and speed and I think jesus, he's tailor made to be an NFL receiver, if he could catch a ball at all then that kind of size and speed is hard not to give a look.

Mecca · 08-21-2008, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuicesFlowing

I wasn't aware that Bolt (great name for a lightning-fast sprinter) wanted to play in the NFL. It would be an awful decision to throw money at this guy and lure him into playing a game he's not qualified for. Why do people even talk about this? Gretz disappointed me with this stupid article ...

It's just something to think about....

It won't happen though because after the records he'll likely pull in 9 figures in sponsors.

B_Ambuehl · 08-21-2008, 03:03 PM

Yeah the days of olympic champions struggling for peanuts is over.

At this point in time he'd have to take a paycut to play in the NFL. But if he gets busted like most of the sprinters do eventually that might be an option. There aren't any clean sprinters out there it's just a matter of the tests catching up to them.

Frazod · 08-21-2008, 03:17 PM

"Get him a uniform."

08-20-2008, 08:07 PM
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $4183447	Playing "make believe" with yet another Olympic sprinter. http://www.bobgretz.com/chiefs-footb...-he-catch.html But Can He Catch? August 20, 2008 - Bob Gretz \| What would you think if the Chiefs went out and signed a 6-5, 190-pound wide receiver who will be 22 years old on Thursday? Oh, did I mention he’s fast. Very fast. I mean very, very, very fast. That guy is available. His name is Usain Bolt. If you havent’ been paying attention to the Summer Olympic Games from Beijing, China then Bolt may not be a familiar name. He should be. On Wednesday, the Jamaican sprinter won the gold medal in the 200 meters, setting a world record in 19.3 seconds. Combined with his victory in the 100 meters (another world record in 9.69 seconds), Bolt is the first man to sweep the 100 & 200 in the same games since Carl Lewis in 1984. How fast is this guy? His time in the 200 meters broke down to 9.65 seconds in each 100 meters, which was faster than his world-record time in the 100 meters. If you saw Bolt on television you know that he’s one chiseled guy, with something like 5 percent body fat. He’s got no background in the game of football, not even as a kid playing in the neighborhood. Growing up in Jamaica, Bolt played cricket and it was there that his great speed and athletic ability first became evident. That would make it very tough for Bolt to survive in the NFL. Former sprinter and NFL wide receiver Willie Gault said Wednesday that it would be a “difficult task” to get Bolt up to speed on the gridiron. But history has shown us that the fastest man alive can sometimes make the transition to football, of course it always helps if he had a background in the game before hitting Olympic gold. It was 44 years ago that a young man out of Florida named Bob Hayes. In the 1964 Summer Games in Tokoyo, Hayes won the 100 meters in a world record time of 10 seconds. That same year, the Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the seventh round of the NFL Draft and the Denver Broncos took him in the 14th round in the AFL Draft. Hayes had played football at Florida A&M and after signing with the Cowboys, he played 11 seasons. Hayes caught 371 passes for 7,414 yards and 71 TD passes. At that same ‘64 Olympics Henry Carr won the gold medal in the 200 meters. He played three seasons (37 games) with the New York Giants as a safety. In the ‘68 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Jimmy Hines won the 100 meters in 9.95 seconds. Hines came out of Texas Southern University where he played some football. The Miami Dolphins drafted him in the sixth round of the 1968 NFL Draft and he signed with the Fins four days after the Olympics ended. Hines played in 10 games with Miami in that ‘69 season, catching two passes and returning one kickoff. Near the end of the ‘70 season, Hines was available and he signed with the Chiefs, playing in one game. Tommie Smith and John Carlos who won gold and bronze in the 200 meters became better known for their medal platform protest in Mexico City. Smith played in two games with the Cincinnati Bengals in ‘69, catching one pass for 41 yards. Carlos was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, spent one year there, most of that time injured and he then spent two years in the Canadian Football League. Robert Taylor won the silver medal in the 100 meters at the ‘72 Olympics in Munich, finishing behind Russia’s Valeri Borzov. Taylor had a tryout with the Chiefs after the Olympics but nothing came of his football career. Sam Graddy won the silver medal in the 100 meters at the ‘84 Olympics in Los Angeles, finishing behind Carl Lewis. Graddy went on to play two seasons with the Denver Broncos and three years with the Los Angeles Raiders. Michael Bates won the bronze medal in the 200 meters in the ‘92 Olympics in Barcelona. Bates went on to have a Pro Bowl career as a special teams player with the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks. The Chiefs once had another Olympic sprinter in uniform. That was Stone Johnson, who ran in the ‘60 Olympics in Rome. He also played college football at Grambling and he signed with the Chiefs and went to their first training camp in ‘63. It was during a pre-season game in August that was played in Wichita where Johnson suffered a broken neck and died 10 days later. His number 33 has never been worn by a Chiefs player since his death.
Posts: 59,314

08-20-2008, 10:23 PM	#16
teedubya Most Valuable Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Casino cash: $9470002	dude is too big of a joker to do any football. The guy is a clown. A very, very, very fast clown.
Posts: 36,659

08-20-2008, 11:04 PM	#17
Mecca Hockey Town Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Kansas City, Missouri Casino cash: $2357050	Gatlin was on the Vols football team for a season.... I think a guy like him is worth a look you can't teach speed but honestly he's one of those guys were if you got a QB with an arm you go....dude just ran as fast as you can and I'll throw it with all I got and we'll see if we can hook it. I don't think it would be possible to overthrow him.
Posts: 111,117

08-20-2008, 11:20 PM	#18
Phobia Guest Casino cash: $	Joe Delaney ran on Northwestern Louisiana's NCAA championship 4x100 team with Mark Duper in the early 80's.
Posts: n/a

08-21-2008, 12:35 AM	#20
Megbert New and shiny. Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: KC KS Casino cash: $9270260	he's no Sippio.
Posts: 10,198

08-21-2008, 01:29 AM	#21
JuicesFlowing Losing with passion. Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Oblivion Casino cash: $10004925	I wasn't aware that Bolt (great name for a lightning-fast sprinter) wanted to play in the NFL. It would be an awful decision to throw money at this guy and lure him into playing a game he's not qualified for. Why do people even talk about this? Gretz disappointed me with this stupid article ...
Posts: 4,399

08-21-2008, 07:19 AM	#22
jidar MVP Join Date: May 2005 Location: a Casino cash: $10004900	The thing about Bolt that I don't see anyone talking about is how fking big the dude is. He's 6'5" and the fastest man alive. Holy shit? When standing at the starting line all of the other 100m sprinters were about his shoulder height and yet he blew right past them. I see that size and speed and I think jesus, he's tailor made to be an NFL receiver, if he could catch a ball at all then that kind of size and speed is hard not to give a look. Last edited by jidar; 08-21-2008 at 08:02 AM..
Posts: 5,502

08-21-2008, 03:03 PM	#24
B_Ambuehl Veteran Join Date: Apr 2005 Casino cash: $9805405	Yeah the days of olympic champions struggling for peanuts is over. At this point in time he'd have to take a paycut to play in the NFL. But if he gets busted like most of the sprinters do eventually that might be an option. There aren't any clean sprinters out there it's just a matter of the tests catching up to them. __________________ Who's decision was it to fire Romeo" - Coleman C Hunt: "It was my decision but it was one that Scott agreed with" LOL
Posts: 2,605

08-21-2008, 03:17 PM	#25
Frazod WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $2865085	"Get him a uniform." Attached Images
Posts: 119,529