After alot of research on who was the “Quickest” NFL player of all time, I have come to the conclusion it is Barry Sanders. I wasn’t after who was the fastest to 100m or even 50m, just who was the quickest to 10-20-30 yards with great agility & Speed. Maybe Bo and Michael Vick were faster than him over 100m, but hey.
So I was wandering, do you guys have any training plans he used???, Any biographies out there on him to buy (Links please) or small sections of other books dedicated on him???, What sort of training he undertook??? etc…
It seems to me from what I have gathered already, agree/disagree but this guy was a true fitness fanatic, genetics or not but spinning off 25 hundred sit ups with a 5Kg weight plate on your chest (in one stint) is not genetics, that is hard graft, pure intensity and 100% determination to do that almost every day of the week, along with all the other exercises he did.
If you believe the “Bigger, Faster, Stronger” propaganda, Barry focused on basic movements: squats, power cleans and bench. I think they said he was over 300# in the PC.
Barry had no hip height. This gave him tremendous balance (low c.o.g.), but it sacrificed his top end. But, once again, top speed, or speed in general do not make a great back, necessarily. Otherwise Curtis Dickey, Bo Jackson, and Herschel would be the leading rushers in NFL history. Instead we have Emmitt (great line) and Walter (quick but not great speed), and Barry (same basic physical characteristics as Walter) leading the league for career numbers.
The quickest human being I have ever seen on a football field is Deion Sanders. Lateral movement or top end speed. I have yet to see his equal. Watching him return an interception or a punt return was almost comical. He zigzagged so quickly that his own team tripped over themselves trying to block for him. They had no idea which way he might go.
At a Cowboy game during the 1999 season, I watched him (from the second row) run down a Giants wide receiver who had a good 5-6 yard advantage on him. One of the most incredible feats of athleticism I have ever seen.
bo jackson was def the fastest back I have ever seen film on. He could out run anyone once he got in the open field. Did anyone see Tim Dwight of the Chargers last year blast right by the running back for a block? That is one fast guy.
in football deion could out run day light. insane athlete.
bobby bowden (of florida state) rates his players on a scale of 1-10 in athleticism. he rated deion as an 11. since then everyone gets rated on the deion scale. closest since has been randy moss.
as for b-ball i have to say iverson, dude is lightening quick. no23 you can’t put pippen up with those guys.
I saw Deion play live…he made a play from the opposite side of the field both ways…back to forward, left to right.
Very impressive…but Barry could shake and bake!!! He juiced the bucs half the time, and the other he would get nailed by the super defense. When he was hot, too funky! That guy was fun to watch.
Ryan Giggs, Raul, Damein Duff, Michael Owen, Kluivert, Ronaldo? [/b]
How the hell did we get onto who was the fastest Soccer player???.. Ryan Giggs was quick (Once)… Raul (GET REAL) I’m twice as quick as him, Not of fan of Duff, Michael Owen blows hot and cold in terms of speed, Patrick Kluivert (GET REAL), Ronaldo is pure power, no stamina…
Which leaves me to say the fastest 3 ever soccer players to grace a pitch is Dennis Rommedahl (PSV), DeMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire) and Landan Donavan (San Jose Earthquakes)…
And I’m sure my boys from America can confirm the three guys I just mentioned above couldn’t even hold Barry/Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and Micheal Vicks jock strap in terms of speed…
Deion running a 10.3 is quite impressive. But judging from Deion’s stride, his 100 meters was probably not as impressive as his 10-30 meters was. He had a strange step, and hardly seemed to get his knees up at all. Hard to explain.
In Carl Lewis’s 1996 diary he mentions some jabbering about whether Deion could beat him over 40 yards. At that stage in Deion’s career (and Carl’s) Deion might have.
True Mikeh, I am sur the 10.3 was HH but I wonder what potential he had if he were taught proper sprint mechanics. Do any of you guys remember a competition several years ago that invited the fastest athletes from various sports. Lewis represented track, Darrel Green from football, Ricky Henderson from baseball, etc. Lewis of course dusted all in the 100 but Green ate Lewis’ lunch in the 40 yd dash with helmut and shoulder pads. If I recall correctly, Green rans a high 4.4 and Lewis ran a 4.65.
Deion running a 10.3 is quite impressive. But judging from Deion’s stride, his 100 meters was probably not as impressive as his 10-30 meters was. He had a strange step, and hardly seemed to get his knees up at all. Hard to explain.
In Carl Lewis’s 1996 diary he mentions some jabbering about whether Deion could beat him over 40 yards. At that stage in Deion’s career (and Carl’s) Deion might have. [/b]
Mike,
Interesting post. I have never seen Deion Sanders run in terms of stride rate/Length as I live in the UK and unfortunately the NFL is obcelete in this Country.
Is there any chance you could go into a little more detail of his stride rate/Length???.. Does he have a choppy/fast Leg Frequency with short stride lengths???, Or is it the opposite with longer strides with a lower Leg Frequency???..
It seems to me if he never seemed to get his knees up he had a Fast leg frequency with a choppy stride, Can you confirm this for me???..
And, Was Deion really that quick to beat Carl Lewis over 40 yards???..
Ricky you could run a search on some of the search engines and should be fit to find a few mpegs of Neon Deion at his awesome best …
… in fact while you’re at it check out Walter Payton - my personal favourite - I just love the toughness and ‘honesty’ of older players - sweetness indeed!
I read that Deion clocked a 10.29 (official, starting gun, electronic timming in a 100meters race, at a U.S championships.)
There are some Deion haters out there, and some of you guys think he was only ever a football player. Well he was a 4 sport athlete in collage. First sport was football, best cornerback in N.F.L, and collage. Second sport was baseball and lead the baseball league a few years in stolen bases in both the pros and in collage. Third sport was basketball (high school), where he was all-california state second team, meaning he was the third or 4th best high school guard in california! 4th sport was track where he sometimes competed for his collage team, and competed in several track meets (proper electronic timming, starting gun etc…), in 100 and 4 x 100m relays. If you think that he’s never had correct distance clock/timmimg in the 100meters becuase his first sport was football then you are mistaken.
Also, I saw him take part in the converse invitational all-star weakend. He was in the dunk contest and as far as I’m concerned he was M.r electrofying/ the best one. He jumped out of the gym. The reason they didn’t give him the trophy was ofcourse becuase he was sponsored by nike and not Converse.
Track was his fourth sport that he hardly ever competed in but has a LAGITIMATE 10.29sec to his name for Pete’s sake…
The reason why I’m harping on about it is becuase somebody in the old forum in the football section suggested his sprinting was overated. They are wrong.
Apart from Bob Hayes (who also had less than smooth mechanics) Deion is EASILY the most “gifted” athlete of the modern era. Track was his fourth sport that he did not train spacifically for. If he gave up his other 3 pastimes and wanted to do track he would deffinately have gone sub 10 seconds.
I’d kill for his gift.
