Picture this: Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles trading his spikes for cleats, zigzagging through defenders on an NFL field, leaving a trail of astonished fans in his wake. Seems like a fantasy? But this was once more than just a fleeting thought for some that never materialized. As fate would have it, Lyles’ name is now buzzing through the football world again with anticipation of a sprint showdown with Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill. Just when you thought the chatter couldn’t get any louder, a new revelation from Lyles again stunned everyone.

Sitting down with Dan Patrick as part of his show, Lyles was seen opening up on his football connections in the past. Apparently, they were put on the back burner for a few crucial reasons. In an NBC YouTube video, Patrick questioned the nimble-footed sprinter, “Anybody tried to steer you to play football?” To which Noah Lyles astonishingly responded, “Oh tons tons of times tons of times!” The 100m Olympic champ from Paris revealed that throughout high school, he was pitched to take up the football path.

“They were just like, oh yeah we’ll get you on a wide receiver, we’ll just put you on a go route, nobody will touch you,” Lyles confessed. But, it was Noah Lyles’ mother, Keisha Cane who held her ground. She did not want her kids to pursue the sport, which led them to giving pushback to all proposals. But why Keisha was averse to taking up football?

Lyles remarked, “My mom was very strict on not having us you know do football she was very concerned about injuries concussions all that stuff and rightfully so.” Moreover, another factor was that Noah Lyles wasn’t really hooked onto the sport. He said, “Personally, I’m not that big into physical contact sports, um I think probably basketball is the closest physical contact sport.”

Perhaps, if you ask Noah Lyles today, he wouldn’t have wanted his career to have unfolded any other way. When offered the possibility of winning the NFL championship game title, Lyles seemed content with his athletic merits. But, was his stand a subtle dig at Tyreek Hill? Let’s see what he said.

On the Dan Patrick Show, things took an unexpected turn when the host playfully stirred the pot by suggesting a showdown between two athletic titans: Noah Lyles and Tyreek Hill. “What if you put your gold medal on the line in a 100-meter dash against Tyreek Hill?” Patrick teased. But Lyles, a six-time world champion with a track record to back it up, wasn’t biting.

His response was quick, and his voice calm as he dismissed the idea, “I don’t want his Super Bowl ring!” The studio erupted in laughter, Patrick included, but Lyles remained unfazed. “I am very, very content with my Olympic medals,” he continued, his tone underscoring the pride he holds for his achievements.

To most, a Super Bowl ring isn’t just any piece of jewelry. It’s a token that signifies mastery over the sport of football. For Tyreek Hill, who earned his ring with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, it represents a pinnacle moment in his career—a testament to his speed that earned him the nickname “Cheetah.” But Lyles has his own pride to hold on to, something that started the verbal spat between the two.

The tension between the two athletes only thickens with Hill’s bold claim that he would “beat Noah Lyles” in a sprint challenge. It’s a clash of egos and expertise: Hill, confident in his explosive speed over short distances, versus Lyles, the reigning king of the track who is used to going the full 100 meters. Hill didn’t hesitate to throw down the gauntlet, declaring, “Sign the challenge and lock in that 50-yard race.” But Lyles insists on the full 100 meters. Reason? Once again, Noah’s pride.

“it has to be legit. I’m not here to do gimmicks. You’re racing against a guy who has worked his whole life to get the title of ‘the world’s fastest man,’ and you’ve worked to be a great football player. You can’t just jump the line because you’re a great football player,” Nah had said in an interview with NBC. As the debate heats up, athletes like Rai Benjamin have weighed in, suggesting that Lyles holds the upper hand in this potential showdown. But the entire saga obviously raises the question of where the two stand in terms of speed.

Is Tyreek Hill truly a match for Noah Lyles?

Tyreek Hill is fast, indeed. Back in his NFL combine days, he had run a 40-yard dash in 4.29s. But does that replicate to longer distances as well? If we take a look at Noah Lyle’s 100m splits in the Paris Olympics, he did 40m in 4.76s. Whereas at the 50m mark he finished in 5,61s. Now, 50m translates to 54 yards and 40m to 44 yards. So Let us first see how the two look over that distance.

A clip of Tyreek Hill running shared by Performance Lab of California on their YouTube, reveals that Hill takes roughly 0.3 seconds to cross a distance of three yards. So, since 40m is 44 yards, so we will add up that .3 second to Hill’s time in 40 the 40-yard dash. That brings his time close 4.6s. While one might think Hill has an advantage here, let us not miss one factor.

In traditional sprinting, there is a reaction time, and a sprinter gets disqualified if it is less than 0.1. Considering that, if we deduct that time from Noah’s time, it comes to 4.66 which is pretty close to Hill. This very reaction time in a traditional sprint might make a major difference between Hill and Lyles. Elite level sprinters are supposed to have a much better reaction time than NFL players. And who does not know the importance of a start in a race? Now let’s look at what happens over 50m.

The YouTube clip features Hill passing 10 yards in roughly .93 seconds. On the other hand, Naoh crosses the 40m to 50m distance in .85s. Remember here that 10m is longer than 10 yards, plus also apply the concept of reaction time here. So Noah looks to have an advantage here. Going by the stats, apparently, Noah will have an advantage over Hill despite the initial stages being close. But what about a full 100m race?

Well, one might argue that Noah does not need to bother much there. Everyone is aware of Noah’s slow reaction time. But they also know about his superhuman speed in the second half of the race. Seems like that would be enough for the reigning world champion to sail past Hill. While the comparisons are purely theoretical, we can not brush aside the excitement to have it in reality at any point of time in the future.