Aug 30 2009
Usain Bolt Plays Football Without Pads
When your typical American sports talk radio dude starts talking about Usain Bolt, the conversation inevitably turns to what kind of weapon the world’s fastest man would be in the NFL — would he still have the same speed in a helmet and pads, could his body absorb the punishing hits, could he run routes as a receiver or just be a punt return specialist, that sort of thing.
But who says NFL football is the type of football Bolt wants to play?
Given his size and speed, Bolt could probably spring offside traps all day, and his body wouldn’t take nearly the same kind of pounding it would suffer in the NFL. Plus, as this video shows, he favors his left foot, which could come in handy. The only question mark would be his ball-handling skills. If his first touch is weak and he can’t find the net, he might as well be a really fast Ameobi.
It’s probably going too far to suggest Bolt is following a trend here, but it makes you think about what’s really more glamorous: being a striker in Spain, or being a punt return specialist in America. After all, if you do a Google image search of Devin Hester, how many photos of his face do you see?
(Video spotted on 101 Great Goals.)
3 Responses to “Usain Bolt Plays Football Without Pads”
This is a topic I saw come up on several discussion boards during the Olympics last year. Naturally NFL fans were suggesting Bolt-in-NFL “whatifs” which annoyed the non-Americans. Jamaicans don’t pay much attention to American sports; if Bolt was going to chose another sport it would be cricket, rugby, soccer, etc. Someone with Bolt’s size and explosive speed might make an impressive fast bowler in cricket, for instance. I’m not sure what positions in rugby would favor Bolt, but you get the idea. It’s a bit late now for him to train for other sports, anyway.
True, but I’d still love to see Sven offer Bolt a contract at Notts County, just for kicks.
The AFL is also trying to get Bolt to Australia for this year’s AFL Grand Final to try some Aussie Rules …
Bolt’s rare combination of height and speed would make him a virtually unstoppable full-forward on the lead. All he’d have to learn is how to use his powerful arms to catch the ball and he’d probably kick 50 goals a year.