Literally taking a page from the excellent book The Pro Football Chronicle: The Complete (
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| Graphic courtesy Collier Books. |
Green sat out 1990 when Ron Brown won again but regained his title in 1991 when he, again, was the fastest man in the NFL.
Although the AP reports quoted are spotty, and a full record of the heats and times have yet to be unearthed, the following is a recap of the 1990s NFL Fastest Man competitions:
1990
Champion: Ron Brown.
"Brown defeated Erik McMillan of the New York Jets, 6.23 to 6.54
Gault beat Eric Metcalf of the Cleveland
Anthony Miller of the Chargers beat (as of yet not found)
Rod Woodson of the Steelers beat (as of yet not found)
Brown ran the next heat
Gault, beat Anthony Miller 6.28 to 6.30.
The final heat:
Ron Brown - 6.18
Willie Gault - 6.32
1991
Champion: Darrell Green
"In the first two heats, Green beat Sam Graddy of the Raiders with
a 6.19 clocking and ran the best time of the day (6.13) in beating Mel Gray of
the Detroit Lions in his first heat.
Tim Brown beat the Vikings Herschel Walker with a 6.30 time and then bested Anthony Miller of the San Diego Chargers with 6.25 time
In the other two races, Miller beat Tony Jones of the Houston
Oilers and Graddy beat James Williams of the Buffalo Bills. The Graddy-Williams heat was a photo finish.
Green and Brown raced in the championship heat and both finished with a time of 6.17 seconds, but Green edged Ron Brown with his chest at the tape in a photo finish."
1992
Champion: Alexander Wright
"Wright began the day when he won a photo-finish against Buffalo Bills defensive
The Cardinals Randal Hill
beat No. 1 seed Willie Gault of the Los Angeles Raiders in
the other semifinal.
Earlier in the day, Wright bested Pittsburgh
J.D. Williams advanced to face Wright by beating and Atlanta
Gault beat Indianapolis Detroit wide receiver Mel Gray
In the championship, Wright beat unseeded receiver Randal Hill of the Phoenix Cardinals, 6.14 seconds to 6.20 seconds in the 60-yard race.
Four-time champion Darrell Green of the Redskins
declined to participate in 1992."
Champion: Alexander Wright
"(Michael) Haynes (Falcons) beat Don Beebe (Bills) with a time of 6.34
(Alexander) Wright (Raiders) beat Terrell Buckley (Packers) easily with a time of 6.24
(Randal) Hill (Cardinals) beat Steve Israel (Rams) also very easily with a 6.25
Troy Vincent (Dolphins) upset Anthony Miller (Chargers) with a 6.44
2nd round
Haynes defeats Hill with a time of 6.29
Wright wins over Vincent with a 6.22
In the final heat Wright ran the 60 yards in 6.19seconds, Michael Haynes, who
(Randal) Hill (Cardinals) beat Steve Israel (Rams) also very easily with a 6.25
Troy Vincent (Dolphins) upset Anthony Miller (Chargers) with a 6.44
2nd round
Haynes defeats Hill with a time of 6.29
Wright wins over Vincent with a 6.22
In the final heat Wright ran the 60 yards in 6.19
1994
There was no competition
1995
Champion: James Trapp
"Trapp (6.26) won the competition after the 1995
season, narrowly
Trapp advanced to face Jett by running a
6.25-second 60-yard dash (also reported as a 6.29) to beat defending champion Alexander Wright, earlier he beat Michael Bates.
Entrants
also included two-time defending champion, Glyn Milburn of Denver and Viking Qadry
Ismail (and Tyrone Hughes) both (all) of whom Jett prevailed over to meet Trapp in the final."
1996
Champion: James Jett
"Receiver James Jett finished the 60-yard sprint in 6.10
seconds and edged Trapp (6.15) in the final.
Rams wide receiver Alexander Wright finished third. Wright was clocked in 6.25. The Packers Travis Jervey finished fourth.
Jervey's
In the finals, Oakland wide receiver James Jett, ran 6.10 and defeated Trapp (6.22) and St. Louis wide receiver Alexander Wright (6.30)."
In the finals, Oakland wide receiver James Jett, ran 6.10 and defeated Trapp (6.22) and St. Louis wide receiver Alexander Wright (6.30)."
1997
Champion: Eddie Kennison
"Kennison won the annual NFL Fastest Man event with a
time of 6.12 seconds in the 60-yard dash.
In an odd turn, Kennison lost his heat race to Oakland
Other players in the field were James Jett of the
Raiders and Travis Jervey (and Herschel Walker)."
Giants defensive back Jason Sehorn was also invited.
Jervey (6.40) beat Herschel Walker's 6.48 in one preliminary heat. Jervey went on to finish fourth with a clocking of 6.25 seconds.
************************
1997 marked the end of the competition that lasted a bit over a decade. In looking at the Pro Football Chronicle data combined with the 1990s data we find:
Fastest time in the 1990s: James Jett 6.10.
Fastest time in the 1980s: Ron Brown 6.095
Darrell Green won the most titles with four and that would seemingly verify that he was
Bob Hayes was faster as in 1964 he won the Gold in the 100 Meter Final in the Olympic Games, Harry Jerome of Canada was 3rd and in the mid-1960's set the World Indoor Mark at 6.0 as it had been 6.1 for some time (a tough time to better as the 1980's and 1990's NFL Fastest Man competitions prove) ...so all under 6.1 timings are extremely impressive and 6.1-6.2 times are very impressive as well ....the photo-finish between Epps and Green truly WORLD CLASS as was Ron Brown's 6.095 and it shows why 6.1 was and is an extremely good time for 60 yards!
ReplyDeleteWhy didn't Rocket Ismail participate and if he did what place would he have came in?
DeleteThe article is about the competition only, Darryl.
DeleteOnly guys that wanted to compete competed. Speculation is taken out because this was head-to-head competition; line up, get it on! Since this was after the season competition, there are various reasons why guys didn't run; injuries, contract stipulations, other commitments, etc. Look at the names of the athletes that DID compete, look at the ELECTRONIC times that they ran; They were Fully Electronic, gun started, photo finish times to the 1/1000th of a second!! Those guys were running!! 6.095 is BLAZING, as a matter of fact ANY time under 6.40 for 60 yards is SMOKING!! I've coached and competed in track and field for over 40 years and have only coached a couple of athletes that could run that fast; in college or high school. Look at the names: Herschel Walker, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Rod Woodson, Darrell Green, HOFers that came out and put it on the LINE to COMPETE!! That, by itself, tells you a LOT about those men!!
DeleteBob Hayes was faster as in 1964 he won the Gold in the 100 Meter Final in the Olympic Games, Harry Jerome of Canada was 3rd and in the mid-1960's set the World Indoor Mark at 6.0 as it had been 6.1 for some time (a tough time to better as the 1980's and 1990's NFL Fastest Man competitions prove) ...so all under 6.1 timings are extremely impressive and 6.1-6.2 times are very impressive as well ....the photo-finish between Epps and Green truly WORLD CLASS as was Ron Brown's 6.095 and it shows why 6.1 was and is an extremely good time for 60 yards!
ReplyDeleteRocket Ismail would have beat all of them
ReplyDeleteDon't know why he didn't participate, and he would have done well, no way to know who would have won, but he'd certainly be in the mix
DeleteRocket Ismail would NOT have beaten Darrell Green. Ismail was very fast but he was 2nd in the college 55m dash in 1991 and finished 7th or 8th in the college 100m final with a career best of 10.20 over 100 meters. Green ran 10.08 over 100m in college and beat Carl Lewis (1984 Olympic 100m dash Gold Medalist) as a collegiate. Green also beat Sam Graddy (1984 Olympic 100m dash Silver Medalist) and Ron Brown (1984 Olympic 100m dash 4th place) 2 times each in the NFL Fastest Man Competitions. Lewis, Graddy, and Brown were 3 of the 4 members of the 1984 USA Olympic 4x100m relay team that won Gold and set what was at the time the World Record in the event.
Delete1. Ismail's 10.20 was hand timed.
Delete2. Green never beat Carl Lewis.
Stop the bullshit Green NEVER beat Lewis NEVER,
DeleteWrong. 1982 Green beat Lewis. https://www.espn.com/highschool/rise/football/news/story?id=3675440
DeleteIsmail would have gotten his butt kicked by Green, Brown, Jett and Epps.
ReplyDeleteNot at 55 or 60, he ran 6.07 as a Jr and beat Jett in the 55m and 100m in College, Epps was a step behind at that point...Brown and Green were capable in the 80's but in the 90s from 91'-'94 Ismail is faster at that distance. Not to mention he has run faster than them all at the distance.
DeleteI agree that Ismail could have beaten all the participants. I think he would have to be lumped in that same elite group of Green, Brown, Wright, Jett, Graddy, Epps and even Trapp. He wouldn’t even be eligible to compete until 93-94 depending on when he exactly signed his contract. It doesn’t get much more elite as a football player’s speed and quickness than this group. Curtis Dickey in the 70’s-80’s posted 6.1 and Eddie Kennison & Willie Gault were in the Under 6.2 squad. Every other speedster had a tough time breaking the 6.2 barrier whether 55m or 60 yard electrictronic timed race. James Williams had a bad record but was very game vs some of the best. Only a handful of today’s players could compete with these 6.1 guys. Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, former players Jeff Demps ,Trindon Holliday, Michael Bennent, Damiere Byrd (active), Terrance Newman, Marquise Goodwin (active) Jamal Charles, CJ Spiller, Jacoby Ford would have a shot with their Best vs those guys best.
DeleteHe would have dominated this event as him and Jacoby Ford were Masters at this distance. Ismail almost won an NCAA title in the event and lost once in 25 career races at the distance.
ReplyDeleteIsmail would NOT have beaten Darrell Green.
DeleteIsmail was 2nd in the 1991 NCAA 55m dash. He did NOT win a National Championship in the event.
DeleteWillie Gault actually won the 1983 55m dash and the 55 hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championship.
In 1983 it was 60 yards not 55m.
DeleteFord and Bracy are only guys I see having a legit chance to beat Ismail at the distance...Ismail ran faster than all the other guys as a 20 year old who barely ran Track and was a whisker away from being an NCAA Champ losing to a guy he had just beat.
DeleteThose saying 55 meters isn’t 60 yards is correct, It’s longer. Barely but longer so the 55m electronic times I lumped in with the 60 yards times of this event.
DeleteIsmail’s best wouldn’t beat Greens or Browns best. He would be in the mix for sure. He belongs in the elite NFL Speedsters at the time.
ReplyDeleteIsmail was very fast , but he was not beating Green, Brown, Jacoby, Trapp, Jett, Epps or Nehemiah.
DeleteIsmail ran 6.07 as a Jr and it was #1 in the World when he ran it, he finished runner up in NCAAs by .02 after only running competitively for a month. His time is faster than Green or any of the competitors.
DeleteIsmail beat Jett 3x, Trapp 2x as well as Silver medalist Frankie Fredericks 4x in college. He lost ONE race in the 55m in his career and to do that after taking 2 years off is unbelievable. His times after the 2 year layoff were 6.19, 6.10, 6.07, 6.12 and 6.17.
Delete6.07 beats 6.09 or 6.10 last I checked
ReplyDeleteThat was also on a track and this was on grass!!! Little different. Green also proved on the field with pads on by running down many players in the league over his 20 year career.
ReplyDeleteIt was on grass when the NFL players ran it, but unlike college, it was also quite possibly wind-aided. All races in college that distance were indoors
ReplyDeleteThese were fun to watch. I honestly think that most of these guys were capable of winning at nay time. Depending on the condition they were in. Sam Graddy was a 6.03 55m guy but didn't seem like he was conditioned for these races. It depends on when you catch these guys. Later the year Darrell Green won he raced Herschel Walker in the Superstars Competition in the 100 yard dash. Herschel beat him. So even though Green ran a faster 100m than Herschel it depends on when they race and how conditioned they are for that day. Or how they get out of the blocks. There have been many fast guys in the NFL that wouldn't have done well in these competitions but you would never catch them on the field. Deion Sanders, Joey Galloway, and Desean Jackson are three off the top of my head. I wish they did this when Curtis Dickey was playing too. Very fast.
ReplyDeleteHey, forgot about Curtis Dickey, guy was world class. A few other guys from the 80's that possibly s coulda competed are, Wesley Walker, Renaldo Nehemiah, Roy Jetstream Green, Johnnie Lam Jones, Wes Chandler.
Deletelike Ron Brown once said, all their speeds are within a grain of salt. anyone could have beaten anyone on any given day.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what year it was but they had a competition with olympic sprinters vs Nfls fastest men. I remember one sprinter was Mark Witherspoon and it was 100 meters I believe and he beat Darrell Green and Don Beebe easily. Their were other football players but those are the names I remember. Anyone else remember this event? Maybe early 90's is my guess given Witherspoons injury before Barcelona.
ReplyDeleteYup I saw that too ot was early 90's and Witherspoon didn't just beat green he beat him by ALOT nobody believes this when I tell them of this competition
DeleteIt should be noted that as an 18 year old in high school, Marvin Bracy ran a WR time of 6.08 sec in the 55 meters. The video of that race is insane. His start was off the chain.
ReplyDelete