Better Athletes NFL or NBA players?

[TommyTBolt]

What does 40 years equals 36 meters have to do with anything??? Are you (Please Use More Appropriate Word)??? I was going by the 40 times at the columbine and comparing it to what Gatlin did when trying out for the NFL. Why do you think I used his time specifically???

Omg you are a dumbass.

You said NFL 40 times are a joke. Implying that an NFL player can not be faster than Justin Gatlin or that Justin Gatlin was timed inaccurately.

If a 40 time is 36 meters, which is only a little bit over 1/3 of a 100 meter race or a little more than half a 60 meter dash. Meaning a 100 meter olympic sprinter most likely hasn't even reached top speed where as an NFL player running a 40 yard dash is going top speed probably at 25 yards.

A sprinter running a 60 meter race, at 36 meters is also probably approaching top speed by then where as an NFL player is finished running.

Therefore an NFL player could beat an olympic sprinter in a 40 yard dash.

Second it is a combine you mouthbreather.

40 times are a joke and no NFL players could not beat Olympic sprinters in a 40 yard dash. You the one thats making yourself look bad hear calling people mouthbreathers and you have no idea what your talking about. Justin Gatlin would beat any NFL player in a 40 yard race. There might be 1 or 2 guys that might have an outside shot considering a bad start or something a guy like Ted Ginn might be able to hang but still Gatlin would win the majority of races.

Reasons 40 times are a joke
1. Most are inflated and guys are always said to run significantly faster 40s than they end up running at the combine.
2. Most 40s are hand timed which increases inaccuracy.
3. 40 yard dash has very little to do with football since its ran without pads and the game is played with pads. Thats why they talk about guys with "football speed" meaning how fast are you with all your pads and helmet running on grass or turf in cleats, not how fast are you running in shorts on a track.

[TommyTBolt]

also you completely ignored the fact of reaction time in a 100 meter/yard race where you are reacting going to the sound of a pistol which takes as much as a tenth of a second to start running trying not to false start where as at the combine your either hand timed (gaining a tenth or so while the hand timer reacts to your movement) or if you are electronically timed it starts on your first movement not on a starters pistol.

[TommyTBolt]

imo i would consider all of the following athletic traits...

speed
agility
acceleration
quickness
strength
explosiveness
muscular endurance
cardiovascular endurance
balance
flexibility
size (height, girth)
wingspan / reach
high jump
long jump
double jump
triple jump
reflexes
coordination
toughness
intelligence
grip

im sure im forgetting some too.

and ill edit this to say that while i think NFL players are slightly better athletes in general than NBA or MLB players I dont think NFL players are the best athletes. Imo the best athletes are either martial artists or gymnasts.

[Frank Mulely]

NFL football guys train to optimize their athleticism for NFL football. that means a LOT of standing around and balls-out performance in bursts. that's just how NFL football is played. many NFL guys would keel over if they had to play, say, rugby, which requires sustained effort they've never trained for their whole life.

the problem with this thread is there is no agreed-upon definition of athleticism.

[KennyDuwayne]

NFL 40 times are a joke. Half the guys in the NFL can apparently run it faster than Justin Gatlin. Not only is the dude an Olympic medalist, but he has arguably the best start of any top level 100m sprinter.

Its a 40 yard dash which is 36 meters

That's not even top speed in a track race, so yes, an NFL in the first 40 yards, can be faster than a top olympic sprinter, doesn't mean the NFL player would beat a top olympic sprinter in meter race.

And Justin Gatlin only had a 4.42 in the 40 and there are several NFL players faster than him in the 40, but I doubt many are faster than him in a 60 meter dash which he has the fastest time.

What does 40 years equals 36 meters have to do with anything??? Are you (Please Use More Appropriate Word)??? I was going by the 40 times at the columbine and comparing it to what Gatlin did when trying out for the NFL. Why do you think I used his time specifically???

Did you really call someone (Please Use More Appropriate Word) then proceed to call the NFL Combine, Columbine?

[miltk]

I'm not a huge NFL fan but i was watching some of the combine videos and i was really impressed with the athleticism of a lot of these guys. Especially how fast a lot of them could move despite their pretty stocky physiques compared to how most NBA players are built at least.

Who do you think overall are better athletes though NFL or NBA players?

nfl without a doubt. it taps into the most basic requirements for "athleticism"...strength, speed, and running. and every kid throws and catches.

basketball is a SKILL sport, not to mention the height factor as a detriment in many activities. plus there are more multisport athletes in fball.

[CablexDeadpool]

Reasons 40 times are a joke
1. Most are inflated and guys are always said to run significantly faster 40s than they end up running at the combine.
2. Most 40s are hand timed which increases inaccuracy.
3. 40 yard dash has very little to do with football since its ran without pads and the game is played with pads. Thats why they talk about guys with "football speed" meaning how fast are you with all your pads and helmet running on grass or turf in cleats, not how fast are you running in shorts on a track.

40 times are hand recorded and electronically timed like I already said..

40s are ran twice, not once, twice. Once with hand timers and second with electronic timer.

Justin Gatlin already ran the 40 and ran a 4.42...Jacoby Ford and Mike Wallace ran a 4.28, Chris Johnson ran a 4.24, Deseaon Jackson ran the 4.35...there are already players faster than Justin Gatlin in the 40 and I already explained the 40.

Figure out...

Wait ima do it for you because some people can't do math and fathom someone being faster than an olympic sprinter in the 40 yard dash...

40 yard dash = 36.58 meters...that's slight over a 1/3 100 meter dash, a sprinter reaches top speed in half the race, the 50 meter mark...

Football players are faster than olympic sprinters in 1/3 of the race because they reach top speed faster to run the 40 yard dash while an olympic sprinter isn't even at top speed even though an olympic sprinter could have a very good start.


And what the hell does pads gotta do with this?

This is called the best athlete, not compare basketball to football and who is the best athlete

Meaning, if we put football players and basketball players in an obstacle course that measured, explosiveness, strength, and speed.

[D.Brasco]

NFL players can dunk, easily....if there are people like the Flight Bros and AND1 running around and doing 720s

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-aueTBtBFc[/youtube]

Did you post this vid up as a joke? I've seen guys at rec leagues put up better dunks than this. Let alone short NBA players like Nate Robinson.

It would have actually been really interesting if someone like charles barkley had decided to go to the NFL with his size and atleticism? Obviously he would have had to hit the weight room more but he had the built for it i think.

[CablexDeadpool]

the problem with this thread is there is no agreed-upon definition of athleticism.

We have enough athletic tests to know what it means, it's just we have moving goalposts syndrome in this thread.

When we think of athleticism we think of jumping, lifting up heavy stuff, and running really really fast.

We don't look at soccer players and be like, "Look at that athleticism..." unless they doing bicycle kicks. We also don't look at golfers, race car drivers, swimmers, boxers (unless they fight like floyd mayweather, Ali, or hit like mike tyson), water polo...I mean we know what athleticism is when we see it...

Basically it's people doing ridiculously impressive human feats with their body that we typically look at and say, "I can't do that."

So we got football players, basketball player, olympic athletes (like sprinters, shotputters, long jumpers and gymnasts) that tend to fit the definition of athleticism, because they tend to do stuff a normal human being can't do with their bodies...basically it is out of touch.

You can get off your couch and train yourself to run a real long freaking time without being tired, it isn't something that is just mystical and out of reach. You might not can train yourself to have a 40 inch vert and pull of a 360 dunk, or run a 4.28 forty or run 100 meters under 10 (and only people of West African descent tend to be able to run a 100 meters under 10...)

We know what athleticism is.

We are currently talking about football players and basketball players. We all know football is an anaerobic sport, only Cornerbacks and Wide Receivers tend to run really long distances. And we know basketball is a mixture.

If we were to have a competition, that measures strength, speed, explosiveness...who would you think would win is the question.

Did you post this vid up as a joke? I've seen guys at rec leagues put up better dunks than this. Let alone short NBA players like Nate Robinson.

It would have actually been really interesting if someone like charles barkley had decided to go to the NFL with his size and atleticism? Obviously he would have had to hit the weight room more but he had the built for it i think.

He said NFL players can't dunk at all, I said it isn't anything special to be able to dunk...then showed a lame dunk video of NFL combine dudes. I don't even think those are NFL combine dudes when I saw it, but I thought it was funny. There really isn't any NFL players dunking videos, they tend to jump out of pools to show off.

[D.Brasco]

I don't know if he meant literally can't dunk as in more that their dunks suck instead and that vid didn't do anything to dispel that.

I think that goes to the point that since NFL players are often so bulky they lack the fluidity that NBA players have more naturally. I know NFL players can dunk and jump technically high straight up but there's an awkwardness to it when you see it. There's a lack of grace compared to NBA players in that regards.

What that actually means to pure athleticism is part of the debate i guess?

[CablexDeadpool]

I don't know if he meant literally can't dunk as in more that their dunks suck instead and that vid didn't do anything to dispel that.

I think that goes to the point that since NFL players are often so bulky they lack the fluidity that NBA players have more naturally. I know NFL players can dunk and jump technically high straight up but there's an awkwardness to it when you see it. There's a lack of grace compared to NBA players in that regards.

What that actually means to pure athleticism is part of the debate i guess?

Well, I think most of the guys saying NFL, like me, are saying if there was a competition between NFL players and NBA players on like an obstacle course or a competition about strength, speed and explosiveness who would win

Here's a better videos of NFL players actually in a dunking...Chris Carter is ridiculous for an NFL player
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR4fOKn3xNI[/youtube]

Robert Griffin pulling off a windmill
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuIaEmC1w8o[/youtube]

Cole Beasley, an undrafted player, I actually verified this one, he has a 38 inch vert at 5'8
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAiXuptvlzM[/youtube]

TO dunking in a streetball game
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWgyiG-2n6A[/youtube]

[D.Brasco]

Funny you bring up an obstacle course but what if what was more of an iron man competition where stamina is considered a huge part of the event and the overall athleticism of the competitors. It would be interesting who would come out on top of that?

Also again with the dunk vids I am just not impressed at all. Chris Carter? look at what someone like steve francis his same height pulled off? RG3 compare that to hell Nate Robinson or stephon marbury. Pretty much anybody under 30 at least can dunk in the NBA and that's at any height from below 6' and up.

I get it NFL players can jump high but when they try to do anything with fluidity with their verts they come off as awkward and stilted.

[CablexDeadpool]

Funny you bring up an obstacle course but what if what was more of an iron man competition where stamina is considered a huge part of the event and the overall athleticism of the competitors. It would be interesting who would come out on top of that?

I still think an NFL players.

LBs, DBs,WRs are used to running all over the places. If you put RBs, LBs, DBs, and WRs, they would win.

I don't think NBA players are strong enough to beat an NFL player in any obstacle course event. Plus I don't think there are many freak athletes in the NBA compared to the NFL.

LIke say, a 2 mile run, a 150 pound sled pushed 20 yards, an agility drill, then a strong man event like a tire flip, then a 100 yard dash to the finish line...I think NFL players would win.

Unless you want the NFL players do some cross country type crap like run 10 miles which really wouldn't be athleticism to me, I don't see any NBA player being more athletic than an NFL player besides Lebron.

Basically I don' t see any chance in hell for an NBA player to beat an NFL player in because the NBA isn't really about elite athletes, it's about skill and be fancy. You don't use strength, unless you are a post player, you don't try to outrun people really unless you are on a fastbreak.

You throw in a near about olympic caliber elite athlete in the NBA like the Rodney Carneys and the James Whites, he won't see the court, you throw in a really bball skilled elite athlete, he near about dominates the entire game like Lebron or MJ or Shaq.

BBall to me, really isn't about being some ridiculously raw super athlete that can run super fast and jump super high and got a 11 foot broad jump and he is 6'3 230. NBA players are not even physically impressive and you don't get sexy stats about their athleticism besides a vert.

Bball is like Soccer, it is about being skilled and maybe being able to run faster than your opponent and being able to jump a little higher. NBA players never really impressed me with athletic feats besides a Blake Griffin, a T-Mac, a VC, a Westbrook, or a Lebron or an MJ.

[B-Ball Freak]

Like I said in the countless other "Better athletes - NFL vs NBA" threads, they are the same type of athletes but they TRAIN and BUILD their bodies for different sports, can't really compare them...apples and oranges.

I would like to add though that IMO the NBA has more "athletic freaks".

[[RCG]]

NFL athletes hands down.

NBA players are weaklings and lack overralll athleticism.

NFL athletes are dudes that can bench 225 20 times, have a 40 vertical and a '11 broad jump and then run a 4.3

Only NFL caliber athlete I think that is in the NBA right now is Lebron and the only dude that would last in the NFL would be Lebron.

There are very few guys in the NFL with a 40 inch vertical, even fewer that can bench 225 20 times (outside of fat linemen), and about 2 guys in the entire league who can run a 4.3. You just made it sound like every guy in the NFL is an elite jumper, sprinter, and strongman.

Guys like Westbrook, Rose and Lebron could put up elite NFL combine numbers.

Highly doubt Westbrook or Rose could bench 225 lbs 20+ times. Maybe LeBron. Kevin Durant couldn't and maybe still can't do one rep at 185.

[EGarrett]

I'm not a huge NFL fan but i was watching some of the combine videos and i was really impressed with the athleticism of a lot of these guys. Especially how fast a lot of them could move despite their pretty stocky physiques compared to how most NBA players are built at least.

Who do you think overall are better athletes though NFL or NBA players?

NBA players come from a much smaller portion of the population, namely people who are in the top 1% of less of height...and there are less people at the NBA Pre-Draft camp in general (since there are only 400 or so guys on NBA rosters in the first place), so you're going to find less athletes in general then in the NFL combine.

Does this mean NBA players are worse athletes? Well just like you find more 40+ inch vertical leaps at the top of the NFL combine scale, you'll also find more 300-pound guys who probably can't jump much either at the bottom amongst the potential linemen. But since NFL players don't have a "minimum height" to try out, I'd say you'll find more natural athletes amongst NFL players, but only slightly more.

[sikma42]

Reasons 40 times are a joke
1. Most are inflated and guys are always said to run significantly faster 40s than they end up running at the combine.
2. Most 40s are hand timed which increases inaccuracy.
3. 40 yard dash has very little to do with football since its ran without pads and the game is played with pads. Thats why they talk about guys with "football speed" meaning how fast are you with all your pads and helmet running on grass or turf in cleats, not how fast are you running in shorts on a track.

40 times are hand recorded and electronically timed like I already said..

40s are ran twice, not once, twice. Once with hand timers and second with electronic timer.

Justin Gatlin already ran the 40 and ran a 4.42...Jacoby Ford and Mike Wallace ran a 4.28, Chris Johnson ran a 4.24, Deseaon Jackson ran the 4.35...there are already players faster than Justin Gatlin in the 40 and I already explained the 40.

Figure out...

Wait ima do it for you because some people can't do math and fathom someone being faster than an olympic sprinter in the 40 yard dash...

40 yard dash = 36.58 meters...that's slight over a 1/3 100 meter dash, a sprinter reaches top speed in half the race, the 50 meter mark...

Football players are faster than olympic sprinters in 1/3 of the race because they reach top speed faster to run the 40 yard dash while an olympic sprinter isn't even at top speed even though an olympic sprinter could have a very good start.


And what the hell does pads gotta do with this?

This is called the best athlete, not compare basketball to football and who is the best athlete

Meaning, if we put football players and basketball players in an obstacle course that measured, explosiveness, strength, and speed.

I think you need to look up how football 40 yard dashes are run. It is never fully electronic like track. The start is hand timed and done when the player picks up his hand(there are ways to get jumps with method). It also means you aren't responding to a gun like in track, the race starts when you start...also making the test inaccurate.

Football players are no where near as fast as Olympic sprinters...the times are just bs.

[tha_rock220]

What does 40 years equals 36 meters have to do with anything??? Are you (Please Use More Appropriate Word)??? I was going by the 40 times at the columbine and comparing it to what Gatlin did when trying out for the NFL. Why do you think I used his time specifically???

Omg you are a dumbass.

You said NFL 40 times are a joke. Implying that an NFL player can not be faster than Justin Gatlin or that Justin Gatlin was timed inaccurately.

If a 40 time is 36 meters, which is only a little bit over 1/3 of a 100 meter race or a little more than half a 60 meter dash. Meaning a 100 meter olympic sprinter most likely hasn't even reached top speed where as an NFL player running a 40 yard dash is going top speed probably at 25 yards.

A sprinter running a 60 meter race, at 36 meters is also probably approaching top speed by then where as an NFL player is finished running.

Therefore an NFL player could beat an olympic sprinter in a 40 yard dash.

Second it is a combine you mouthbreather.

There's nothing here except you proving you can convert from standard to metric. What does a 60 meter dash have to do with anything, and do you have any evidence an NFL prospect reaches top speed in 25 yards other than saying it.

A sure sign you're winning an argument is when the best someone can do is point out a spelling error.

Edit: Ahh I think I see what's going on here. You're trying to say that because the races are shorter the runners accelerate harder. Negative. Maurice Green ran the fastest 60m race in history in 6.39 seconds. Going by his split times in the 1999 World Championships he ran the first 60m of the 100m in 6.39 seconds. So are you actually saying a sprinter can reach their top speed at 36 meters in a 60 meter race and at 50 meters in a 100 meter race and record the same split time at 60 meters anyway. Sorry dude, but that's just stupid.

There's a limit to how fast a person can accelerate, and in the 100m you're going for that limit.

[BIG match]

If you have two identical athletes of every facet and one guy was 5 inches taller he should technically have the advantage...Height has huge play when discussing athletic capablities, especially when you're mixing size and athleticism...otherwise there would be no use for the term "pound for pound". IMO the best athlete has to be the most versatile...Athleticism = speed, strength, agility, stamina...football is a focus sport meaning certain players focus on certain facets more so whereas basketball is a combination sport fueled by stamina. In the NBA you need all of these things but don't necessarily need to ne amazing in one specifically. In the NFL one individual doesn't need all of these traits because you have more players who can each focus on one or two traits compared to less players focusing on every trait.

NBA = balanced athletics
NFL = focused athletics

[mr.ankle]

Sure the nfl players are stronger , But they are alot shorter also . Most NFL players would suck in the NBA