“I’m not going to beat him by a lot, but I would beat Noah Lyles” – The sprinter had a near-perfect stint at the Paris Olympics. Noah Lyles claimed his maiden 100m Olympic gold on the purple tracks at Stade de France. In a stunning photo-finish, the 27-year-old crossed the finish line in 9.79 seconds. His jaw-dropping win pushed the pre-race favorite to second place. But Tyreek Hill believed he could do better, and challenged the Olympian to a race on the Up & Adams show. 

If you think the sprinter would let the audacious claim go unnoticed, you’re wrong. The 2020 Tokyo bronze medalist interjected with a “subtle” diss. “What’s the football player who thinks he’s fast name?” He later acknowledged the comment on Shannon Sharpe & Chad Johnson’s Night Cap. However, things heated up when the Miami Dolphins wide receiver doubled down by setting his terms on X. On an August 19 episode, the NFL legends revisit the clapback and break it down for fans. 

What did they think of the Noah Lyles vs Tyreek Hill fiasco?

Noah Lyles may have unknowingly started a rift with his bold claim “World Champions of what? The United States?” He got in serious trouble with the NBA fans. But he probably wasn’t expecting the smoke from the NFL community too. After constant back and forth between the two athletes, Hill’s recent X post shows he means business. “Sign the contract and lock in that 50 yard race.” However, in a recent episode of Night Cap, Sharpe seemed baffled by the challenge. 

The former football tight took fans through what had transpired between the athletes. He further elaborates how Lyles is a 100m and 200m sprinter, so Hill’s ask of a 50-yard race makes it seem meek in comparison. However, Ocho disagreed. “Let’s be realistic Tyreek Hill is not in track form and nowhere near it would take years for him to be able to run 100 meters against an Olympian now.” While Sharpe tried to interject, the 46-year-old drove his point home by emphasizing how this would be even for both of them. 

But the 3x Super Bowl winner was still unimpressed. “You can’t challenge me in something and then try to set the terms in which you challenging me.” Hill had further pointed out how Lyles couldn’t back his gold medal claims in the 200m event at Stade de France. Sharpe continued, “If I challenge Steph Curry to a three-point competition I can’t say okay we gonna shoot from 12 feet. You can’t say I can bench press more than Aaron Donald and then says okay we only going to do 135. If you challenge the man you got to challenge him at what he does.” But Ocho still stuck to his stance. 

When Rai Benjamin appeared on the podcast, he confidently bet on Noah Lyles. “Tyreek, you’re not beating Noah in the 100, man. There’s just no way in hell- you probably won’t even beat the top collegiate guys man.” While many believed this mic drop moment would end the debate, the escalation failed to meet the hype it created. Chad Johnson deemed it a fair challenge, but several fans disagreed with him. 

Track and field community have brought out their pitchforks over the debate

The unexpected spar initially grabbed several eyeballs. But Ocho’s take on Tyreek Hill’s challenge has left fans seething. One fan exclaimed, “Ocho knows what hes doin. F*ck fair. You challenged a 100m and 200m runner to a race so run the 100m or 200m. Dont back down and ask for 50 yards…..thats a p**sy move.” While Noah Lyles’ 100m speed is sub-10 seconds, Hill has previously clocked 10.19 seconds in a standing start on the field. 

Another fan pointed out, “Nah first he aint gon show up, he gonna duck the race. Second, elite sprinters aint even close to hitting their top speed at 50 yard, doing a 60m is minimum. Tyreek literally said he will beat Lyles in the 100m, so why would he put 50 yard now.” Noah Lyles had a few slow starts in the French capital. Could he be banking on that? While that might work to his advantage, the sprinter did pull off an impressive win from behind. 

One fan stated, “Bro said sign the contract like they agreeing to fight in Vegas. 😂 😂 😂 Can’t they just call each other, meet up, race and record and that’s it?” As snide as it sounds, the Olympian had touched upon this by stating he could hit his agent up for a serious duel instead of posting his claims on the internet. Another fan confessed, “Tyreek need to save this energy for his possible upcoming child support cases! He gonna need that speed he has to run to his lawyers office & get him to get his payments lowered!” Maybe they want the tight-end to focus on the bigger picture instead?

A fan confessed,“The disrespect was bad enough when Hill said he can beat Noah…now he requesting a handicap so he can have a better shot at winning. Cmon now. We pick and choose who we’re okay with getting disrespected” Could he possibly be backtracking on his audacious claim? Another fan seems to agree,“I’m no track athletes but if you challenge the man to a race you challenge him to the way he runs 100 and the 200. You don’t get to set the terms no matter what.” In a previous episode of Night Cap, the sprinter pointed out how Hill’s claim didn’t seem to bother him. What do you think of the situation? Let us know!