Are football players faster than track and field athletes? It’s a question that’s been in the spotlight recently, with the likes of Tyreek Hill (NFL’s Miami Dolphins) challenging Usain Bolt (arguably the greatest Olympian sprinter ever) and more. However, before we get to the all-time greats, we should figure out if NFL players can even beat the best sprinters in the NCAA. 

I compiled data from the NFL and the top collegiate sprinters to finally get an answer to the oft-asked question. Here’s what the numbers say.

Fastest 2022 regular season NFL speeds

Every year, the NFL uses Next Gen Stats to track the fastest players each game. Below you’ll find the fastest players that carried the ball from the 2022 regular season.

In total, 36 NFL players ran faster than 21 mph during the 2022 regular season, but only Parris Campbell and Kenneth Walker surpassed the 22 mph threshold. Campbell’s 22.11 mph speed ranks as the fifth-fastest top speed by a ball-carrier during an NFL season since 2016.

: Here are the DI track and field teams with most NCAA championships

So, how do these speeds relate to the top track and field athletes? Let’s find out.

DESTINATIONS: The greatest venues in outdoor track and field, according to you

Fastest NCAA track athletes in 2023

While mph data for NCAA track and field races isn’t always readily available, there’s luckily data from NCAA sprinters who participated in the 2022 World Athletics Championships. We’ll be using that data for this article.

Top male sprinters

The 100 meters is the premier male sprinting event, with track athletes running the shortest distance during an outdoor meet. To compare the 100 meters to football, it equates to just over 109 yards, roughly the front of one end zone to the back of another end zone. 

It’s rare that a football player will ever run 100 meters in a straight line continuously in a game like a sprinter would in a race, but a football player still needs to hit his peak speeds to escape from opposing players in the same way a sprinter needs to hit his peak speeds to win a race.

That said, here are the fastest 100 meter sprinters that returned to collegiate track and field in 2023.

All three of the collegiate 100 meter sprinters ran faster than all NFL players since 2016. Yet, none of the collegiate sprinters above made the 100 meter final at World Championships, meaning there were even faster sprinters in track and field in 2022.

NCAA T&F: Here’s how the outdoor track and field championships work

What about the equipment?

A common cry in debates between football and track speed is that football players where equipment that can slow them down. Per Sports Illustrated, football equipment like shoulder pads, helmets and more can weigh more than 10 pounds. While there’s no hard data on how much football equipment slows down a player, one can assume that it likely knocks off tenths of a second from top speeds.

40-yard dash

That said, we have seen football players run their top speeds in non-game like settings via the NFL Combine’s 40-yard dash. Take a look a some of the speeds from 2022’s NFL Combine.

Speeds taken from Reel Analytics.

.@BUFootball CB Kalon Barnes (@KaayBarnes_) exceeded 25 mph during his record-setting 40-yard dash at the #NFLCombine pic.twitter.com/cY4GdDru4g

— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) March 7, 2022

Kalon Barnes ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL history, only one-hundreth of a second behind the NFL record of 4.22 seconds. Tariq Woolen ran the fifth-fastest time in NFL history.

However, none of the top-speeds from the 2022 NFL Combine ran without football equipment surpass the top two recorded speeds from the NCAA athletes listed above at World Championships. 

While the 40-yard dash is a decent indicator of speed, it’s not the end all be all as shown by analytics experts. There’s no correlation between 40-yard dash speed and in-game speed, with players with slow 40 times running just as fast — with equipment on — as players with fast 40 times.

Data suggests no correlation between the 40-yard dash & play speed (MPH) for many reasons. For example, both Jordan Howard & Ted Ginn have reached a max speed of 22 mph although Howard ran a 4.59 & Ginn a 4.28 40-yard dash. Don’t over-emphasize the 40. #NFLCombine2022 pic.twitter.com/BeciA7lw76

— Cory Yates (@CoryRAanalytics) March 4, 2022

Moreover, the NFL record of 4.22 seconds in the 40-yard dash pales in comparison to what track athletes have ran in the 40-yard dash. Take former NCAA Champion Christian Coleman for example. He ran a 4.12 second 40-yard dash back in 2017, blowing the NFL Combine record out of the water. Coleman even beat NFL legend Bo Jackson’s rumored 4.13 second 40-yard dash time.

In 2024, Iowa sprinter Kalen Walker took running the 40-yard dash as a track athlete to the next level, running the dash at halftime of the Hawkeye’s game against Northwestern. Walker didn’t match Coleman’s time, but still finished 4.15 seconds, with the wind of an outdoor environment.

That was fun … @kalenwalker131 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/JNwPyxelIu

— Iowa Track & Field/Cross Country (@IowaXC_TF) October 26, 2024

Coleman and Walker’s 40-yard dash performances shows that even in similar conditions, without equipment, track speed is faster.

The DK Metcalf race

While Christian Coleman tested out NFL conditions with his run in the 40-yard dash, NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf did the opposite, running a 100 meter race on the track.

Metcalf ran the 100 meters at the Golden Games in an attempt to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials. In his first 100 meter race with only a few months of training, Metcalf ran a 10.37-second time to finish 15th out of 17 competitors in the preliminary round.

Great start for @Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf.

He ended up finishing his 100m heat in 9th with a time of 10.36.@usatf // #JourneyToGold pic.twitter.com/OSPrrMZFVe

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 9, 2021

Metcalf’s speed paled in comparison to track and field sprinters in a race that didn’t include some of the America’s best 100 meter runners. Yet, when it comes to the NFL, Metcalf is one of the fastest in the league with a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash and a top speed of 22.64 mph 2020.

DK Metcalf would’ve caught Daniel Jones

DK Metcalf’s speed 22.64 mph matches Tyreek Hill last year
pic.twitter.com/GumVZMhBHR

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 26, 2020

Metcalf’s top speed in the NFL is one of the fastest since the NFL has tracked the data. However, when Metcalf transferred his football speed to the track — without equipment — his speed didn’t keep up.

Tyreek Hill vs. Noah Lyles

For the longest time, NFL wide receiver Tyreek Hill — one of the fastest players we’ve seen in the NFL during the 2020s — and Olympic and World Champion Noah Lyles taunted each other over who would win in a race. The two were supposed to line it up on the track in the Summer of 2025 before the big plans fell through.

However, Hill still showed off what he could do on the track. Hill ran his first 100 meters since 2013 at the Last Chance Sprint Series. Hill finishing in 10.15 seconds at the age of 31 — much faster than Metcalf’s 10.37. 

To put that in perspective, Hill’s previous 100 meter PR was 10.19 from 2012 at 18 years old, and he hadn’t ran an outdoor track race since a +5.0 9.98 100 meters while in JUCO in 2013. 

When on a tour of Oklahoma State university in 2024, I personally asked Head Coach Dave Smith — Hill’s coach when he finished fifth in the 2014 NCAA indoor 200 meter finals — what he thought of Hill’s speed and his challenging professional track athletes. To summarize Smith’s sentiments, he explained that if Tyreek Hill chose to focus on track instead of football, he had the talent to compete at the highest level against the top sprinters of today.

Smith’s point is validated after Hill ran 10.1 in a season-opener. That’s no small feat and is on-par with some of the Olympic-level sprinters to start their seasons. 2024 Olympic 100m Bronze medalist Fred Kerley opened 2025 with a 10.23. The fifth-place 100m finisher Marcell Jacobs opened with a 10.30. The sixth-place 100m finisher and Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo opened with a 10.55.

No matter how you look at it, Hill’s 10.15 performance was impressive.

Tyreek Hill runs a decent 10.15s to win his 100m at the Last Chance Sprint Series!

His first official 100m since 2014 and a new Personal Best (PB) for him.

athlete.x || IG pic.twitter.com/Yy9K4BxBfO

— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) June 13, 2025

Went for a lil jog today pic.twitter.com/hGNxufzamX

— Ty Hill (@cheetah) June 14, 2025

The dual-sport athletes

NFL x track speed

For all the comparisons between NFL and track speed, there’s one person who blurred the lines in 2022, Devon Allen. Allen, an NCAA champion and Olympian, was a finalist in the 110 hurdles at the 2022 World Championships and also is a member of the Philadelphia Eagles roster, even scoring a touchdown during the preseason.

OLYMPIC SPEED. @DevonAllen13 flies into the end zone!

: #PHIvsCLE on @NFLNetwork (check local listings)
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/GH49hZ3d4L pic.twitter.com/pkTHZbyrHF

— NFL (@NFL) August 21, 2022

Reid Sinnett & Devon Allen (55-yd TD)
Completion Probability: 28.8%

Air Distance: 59.6 yds
Target Separation: 4.9 yds
Allen Top Speed: 20.93 mph

Sinnett’s pass traveled 59.6 yards in the air, the longest completed pass so far this preseason.#PHIvsCLE | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/gj4Dfj64u0

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) August 21, 2022

Devon Allen hit a top speed of 20.93 mph on his 55-yard touchdown in the preseason. While Allen’s top speed ranks below some of the top speeds in the NFL this year and the top collegians in track and field at the World Championships, Allen is an Olympian hurdler, running the third-fastest 110 hurdles time ever (12.84 seconds) at Worlds. With out football pads and routes and without hurdles, Allen’s top speed is likely much higher.

: Wind and scoring in track and field, explained

NCAA football x track speed

Texas A&M’s Devon Achane is a soon-to-be NFL player with legit track speed. How do we know this about the 2023 NFL draft prospect? Because he actually ran track in college.

Achane qualified for the 2022 DI outdoor championships in sprint events. Achane finished in the semifinals during the outdoor championships with a 10.48-second 100 meter time. On the gridiron, Achane was clocked at 22.2 mph in 2021 on a kick return for a touchdown.

.@AggieFootball RB Devon Achane hit a max speed of 22.2 mph on his 96-yard KOR for a TD in the #Aggies’ win over #Bama on Saturday. #myRAmaxspeed pic.twitter.com/sHVqs3wtCq

— Reel Analytics (@RAanalytics) October 11, 2021

Achane’s speed on that kick return is faster than any NFL player’s top speed during the 2022 regular season. He’s one of the select few players than when someone says “he has track speed” legitimately does.

FOOTBALL TRANSITION: Arkansas’ Rojé Stona’s attempted transition to NFL

Elsewhere, Kentucky has a football-track standout of its own — and he’s only a freshman. Jordan Anthony plays wide receiver for the Wildcats and runs sprints. Prior to enrolling, he won the U.S. U-20 200 meter title with a personal-best 20.34-second finish.

Anthony kicked off his 2023 indoor season with less than a week of track practice between the transition of football and track season by breaking the Kentucky freshman record in the 60 meters in 6.57 seconds. That performance comes after Anthony redshirted on the gridiron, playing in just two games.

Anthony is another dual-sport athlete with true “track speed”.

Anthony continued to prove he has track speed with his 2025 NCAA DI 100 meter win while running for Arkansas (he also had a stop at Texas A&M before transferring to the Razorbacks). The victory came after Anthony won the 2025 NCAA DI 60 meters and after he ran the No. 2 all-conditions 100 meter race in NCAA history, finishing in 10.75 seconds (+2.1). Anthony’s success on the track led to him signing an NIL deal with adidas and turning pro in track in June of 2025, foregoing the rest of his football career.

Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony runs 9.75! Watch every men’s 100m quarterfinals from 2025 NCAA outdoor track and field championships

@Jordan_anthony6 wins the Rod McCravey Memorial with a #UKTF Freshman Record time of 6.57. Fellow Wildcat @lang_jackson9 finished in 3rd, stopping the clock at 6.77.

: https://t.co/40G9geRPKD pic.twitter.com/zgs82nWHIt

— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) January 14, 2023

In July 2024, track speed again made the news thanks to South Carolina’s Nyck Harbor. Harbor drew recognition around the country for his 99 speed and 99 acceleration rating in EA College Football 25.

Meet Nyck Harbor, the Most OP Player in EA CFB 25

At 6’5 242:

-99 Speed
-99 Acceleration
-98 Jumping
-79 Strength (strongest WR in the game)

Runs a 10.11 100M & 20.20 200M

Cheat Codehttps://t.co/nUKSivocbE pic.twitter.com/4TXDTf7ay2

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 14, 2024

Harbor’s speed caught many by surprise, but not track and field fans. Harbor finished 16th in the 100 meters and 10th in the 200 meters in the 2024 Division I track and field championships.

Just absolutely GLIDING! @Nyck1k with a new wind-legal PR time of 20.47 and he will represent the Gamecocks in the 200m finals on Saturday pic.twitter.com/FWm1m8az70

— Gamecock Track & XC (@GamecockTrack) May 9, 2024

MORE: Complete history of The Bowerman award

So who’s faster?

From the data, it’s clear than the top-end speed of NCAA track and field athletes is faster than the top-end speed of NFL players. While there are other external factors like distance run, equipment weight, directions run and more, the top-end speed data is plain to see.

Could things change if the fastest NFL players raced track and field’s best? Maybe, but until that happens the win goes to the trackletes.

For reference when NFL Players say they’re faster than track athletes:

The top NFL MPH the last 6 years

‘21 Jonathan Taylor: 22.13
‘20 Raheem Mostert: 23.09
‘19 Matt Breida: 22.3
‘18 Breida: 22.09
‘17 Leonard Fournette: 22.05
‘16 Tyreek Hill: 23.24

Track speed is different! https://t.co/PKbiX22FQG

— Stan Becton (@stan_becton) July 17, 2022

On Tuesday, June 17, the Ghanaian beach volleyball teams, both men and women, completed their last training sessions for the week leading up to the Africa Beach Volleyball Championship qualifiers in Morocco at La Boma Beach.

From June 22 to June 30, 2025, the competition will serve as a qualifying round for the World Championship in Australia in August.

Ghana Volleyball Association President George Tetteh said he is confident in the teams, especially following their recent success in Rwanda, and called the present preparations the greatest he has seen.

Additionally, Bawa Fuseini, the Association’s Board Chairman, stressed that qualifying in Morocco will increase their chances of obtaining corporate sponsorship.

The men’s team’s head coach declared that his players are prepared to create an impression in the World Championship in Australia because they have mastered the technical parts of the game.

Kelvin Caboo, the men’s team’s acting captain, expressed his confidence that Ghana can emerge as a dominant power in African volleyball and commended the current administration.

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Western Water Polo Association announced the 2025 WWPA Women’s All-Academic Team on Wednesday with 11 members of the Gannon women’s water polo team recognized.

A total of 96 student-athletes were honored for their performances in the classroom. Cal State Monterey Bay led the conference with 22 total selections and Biola followed with 19. Salem led the East Region with 16.

To qualify, a student-athlete must meet the following: Be an active participant of their team having competed in at least 50 percent of games; maintain over a 3.0 cumulative GPA; classified as a full-time student for all terms of attendance; and completed a minimum of one semester or two quarters at their institution.

 

Molly Sebunia (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and Ellie Velasco (Bronx, Calif./Arlington) are now four-time honorees while Molly Fehr (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria) and Claire Rogilio were honored for the third year in a year. Jillian Heinrich (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) and Emma O’Gorman (Johannesburg, South Africa/St Stithians College) earned the honor for the second time. Jade Strickland (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) and Ana Carrera (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona) along with freshman Brigid Carmody (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), Claudia Orte Branch and Izabella Trunzo (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) were named for the first time.

 

Gannon WWPA All-Academic Honorees

Brigid Carmody (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn), Fr., Applied Exercise 

Ana Carrera (Orlando, Fla./Lake Nona), So., Biology

Molly Fehr (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria), Jr., Psychology

Jillian Heinrich (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep), So., Management 

Emma Kayla O’Gorman, So., Health Science 

Claudia Orte Blanch (Madrid, Spain/IES Profesor Maximo Trueba), Fr., Psychology

Clare Rogillio, Sr., Biomedical Engineer/Mechanical Engineer

Molly Sebunia (Erie, Pa./McDowell), Sr., Physical Therapy 

Gabriella Velasco, Sr., Accounting

Izabella Trunzo (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), Fr., Spec Ed

Jade Strickland (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill), Sr., Nursing 

VERMILLION, S.D. – Fresh off strong freshman campaigns, three South Dakota women’s track & field athletes are set to compete at the Nike Outdoor Nationals & USATF Under 20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon this week.
 
Anna Willis (women’s pole vault), Berkeley Engelland (800-meters), and Mariah Fenske in the 3,000-meter steeplechase will compete at the U20 Championships beginning Thursday. Willis and Engelland earned all-Summit League honors in their events this spring, as Willis was the pole vault runner-up and Engelland won the 800-meters. Fenske finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeple, one place off the podium.
 
Engelland will be the first to compete Thursday, running in the prelims at 6:37 p.m. Central Time (4:37 p.m. Pacific). Her personal best in the 800-meters is 2:08.65, set at the USD Tune Up at the beginning of May. She won the Summit League title in the event with a time of 2:11.03. If Engelland were to advance to the finals, she would run at 7:26 p.m. Central (5:26 p.m. local) Friday night in the finals.
 
Fenske will compete in the finals of the steeple Thursday night with a start time of 7:33 p.m. Central. Fenske’s personal best of 10:50.77 was set at the Summit League Championships this May.
 
Willis is set to compete in the women’s pole vault at 7:30 p.m. Central Thursday. The first team all-American and Summit League Runner-Up in the pole vault holds a personal best of 14-10, set at the Summit League Championships, and recorded a height of 14-6 ¾ at the NCAA Championships in Eugene last week.
 
All the live results can be found on Athletic Timing. RunnerSpace will provide live webcasts of the meet.
 

ISTANBUL — Canada’s women’s team opened the second leg of the 2025 Volleyball Nations League with a 3-2 loss to South Korea on Wednesday.

Set scores were 27-25, 25-18, 15-25, 20-25 and 15-13.

Canada came back from a 2-0 deficit and led the final set 6-1 before the Koreans stormed back.

Abby Guezen, playing in her first VNL match this year, led Canada with 17 points, all off the attack.

Anna Smrek added 16 points, including four off the block.

Canada (2-3) sat in 10th place at the tournament heading into a match Thursday against host Turkey.

“It’s not the result we wanted,” Canada head coach Giovanni Guidetti said. “Korea put our attack in trouble and our block defence was not enough. But we knew that we came to Istanbul with a very young team with many players in their first full VNL match.

“I’m happy the team didn’t give up after going down 2-0. … We want to keep working, progressing and pushing every match.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.

The Canadian Press

BOSTON – A total of 11 student-athletes from the University at Albany have collected America East Presidential Scholar-Athlete honors, the conference announced on Wednesday. The award recognizes graduating student-athletes who compiled a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher as an undergraduate student and earned their undergraduate degree in 2024-25.
 
In addition to registering a 3.75 GPA for their college career, honored student-athletes must have received their undergraduate degree in the academic year they are honored and have attended their institution for a minimum of two years.
 
UAlbany’s 11 honorees represented seven of the university’s athletic programs. Volleyball led the way with three honorees, followed by women’s lacrosse and softball with two each. Also representing UAlbany was field hockey, men’s soccer, women’s track and field, and cross country.
 
In total, over 130 individuals from around the conference were named Presidential Scholar-Athletes. The Presidential Scholar-Athlete Award program started during 2013-14 academic year. In total, over 1,000 student-athletes have been honored as part of the program.
 
For a full list of this year’s UAlbany representatives, see below.
 
2025 America East Presidential Scholar-Athletes
Floor de Ruiter – Field Hockey
Daniel Shannon – Men’s Soccer
Kate Powers – Softball
Sara Anderson – Softball
Leann Nicholas – Track & Field
Sthefany Carvalho – Volleyball
Kendall Harris – Volleyball
Shynelle Woroniuk – Volleyball
Ali Heller – Women’s Lacrosse
Haley Phalines – Women’s Lacrosse
Chris Bertola – Cross Country/Track & Field
 
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