The Fastest Man In The NFL Is Trading T-Bills! Wait, What?

The frost is melting finally and spring is in the air, which can only mean one thing.  It’s time for the NFL combine.  Each year all the prospective draft picks for the upcoming NFL draft get together and have their vertical leaps measured, their bench press maxed out, and most importantly for this story they all run a 40yard dash.  Now I have heard a lot of crazy statements on the trading floor, but one outlandish statement stands out above all others. 

Several years ago my good friend Jim, who traded T-Bills for another firm, was talking about his glory days as a high school and college baseball star when we were out to dinner.  As he drank more and continued to embellish on his athletic prowess, his stolen base record came up.  Now, Jim was a very good athlete, and did in fact set the stolen base record for Staten Island, but he may have gotten a bit carried away.  He claimed that he ran a 4.30 40yard dash.  We immediately pounced on this fact.  The entire table called bullshit on his time, but Jim being a Wall Street trader would not back down.  We gave him every conceivable out.  It was suggested that maybe he meant a 4.43 or a 4.53.  Maybe he had a coach that started the watch a touch late, but he was adamant that he had run a legit 4.30 40yard dash in high school.   

In 1960, Gil Brandt, the director of scouting for the Cowboys came up with the 40/20/10 measurement to evaluate players at all positions.  The 20 yard split time of the 40 was used to evaluate linemen since the thought was that they rarely run 40 yards in a game.  The 10 yard split was used to measure the burst off of the line of scrimmage for wide receivers.  The 40yard dash and the related splits became the center piece of info on a prospective high school, college or professional football player.  Now any player that is drafted has three pieces of information attached to their name; position, college, and 40yard dash speed.  How does a 4.30 40yard dash time measure up then?

Deion Sanders, who was considered by many the fastest man in the NFL, ran a 4.21 40yard dash at the 1989 NFL combine.  Jim’s time means that he would have lost to Deion Sanders in a photo finish.  This year just one player cracked a 4.30 40yard dash.  DeMarcus Van Dyke from Miami ran a 4.28.  Every year when the NFL combine begins, Jim gets to relive his 4.30 40yard dash claim.  For 8 years running, as the 40yard dash times for running backs, wide receivers, and defensive backs begins to hit the press, one of the many people who were either at the infamous dinner or have heard this story will invariably begin sending around the NFL Combine’s fastest times with Jim’s name inserted with a blazing 4.30 40yard dash.  To his credit, Jim still will not back down off his time.