Thursday, May 10, 2007

A "Bullet" or a "Skeets"?

When you read about Justin Gatlin's tryout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you might recall "Bullet" Bob Hayes, the world-record holder and Olympic gold medalist in the 100m dash who went on to have a fine career as a receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Or you might remember Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah, the phenomenal hurdler who was the first man to run the 110m hurdles in under 13 seconds and then went on to do a bunch of nothing with the San Francisco 49ers before returning to track and breaking 4 more records.

Does Gatlin have a shot? With a 4.1 time in the 40 yard dash,
Gatlin would be the fastest man on the gridiron. Not only that, but Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak has said that Gatlin "did catch the ball pretty good" in his tryout with the Texans last year. But the NFL has an image problem they're trying to overcome. Chances are, NFL commish Roger Goodell is going to sprint away from Gatlin. Goodell already has enough problems from which he would like to run away.

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