The Noah Lyles–Tyreek Hill sprint challenge is turning more dramatic by the minute. Harmless fun? Not so much, as Hill seems quite serious, wanting to “Sign the contract and lock in that 50-yard race.” However, the ‘world’s fastest man’ seems to think otherwise. He feels that Tyreek just dodges and is chasing clout. Even the fans felt uncomfortable about the distance that Hill specifies. One of them even questioned if Hill was afraid to race Lyles in a full 100m.

While there are many willing to invest in this clash, the uncertainty about the distance continues. Shannon Sharpe asked Lyles, “Would you be willing to race Reek in the 60 or the 100 we got some sponsors to put some money down?”  The reigning 100m Olympic champion had upheld that if Hill was serious, he would meet Lyles on the track. But, he did not want to bend below the 100m-meters.  And now, Noah Lyles seems to have made another blazing statement, reiterating that he will not stoop.

Noah Lyles draws a crystal clear line

Appearing on the Dan Patrick show, Noah Lyles got questioned, “How about you both wear football uniforms?” To which, he responded with, “Sounds a little too gimmicky for me.” While Dan who wished to pack this clash with entertainment for the “TV” proposed a few bizzare ideas, like “you both hold a football and race,” he also touched on the distance debate. Patrick pointed out, “I know why he [Hill] wants to do 50 yards cuz even if he loses, it’ll be close but 100 meters, that there’s no interest in that, but you have everything to lose.” 

He then lay the floor open for Lyles after asking, “but you would still do this with Tyreek Hill?” To this, Noah Lyles responded, “I’m not right look he challenged me so that means he wants the crown of fastest man so you have to race the race that gives you the crown.” Lyles sounded firm that Hill would have to race a 100-metres if he challenged the Florida native. He further fired off, “There might be leeway for adjustments but if you think we’re running anything that has ‘yards’ in it and you’re sorely mistaken.” It looks like the track athlete strictly wishes to stick to the 100-meter scale. And he sends this across in a firm message to the Miami Dolphins star.

At the same time, Lyles also remained open to slight negotiation. He said, “but we could definitely have conversations, I have no problem having conversations about it.” Also, being the ‘showman’ that he claims to be, he was all in for the fun. Even though he doesn’t approve of running with pads, he is okay with clubbing the football stadium with a track in the middle. And saying, ‘Hey let’s pack this place out.’

But, there was an NFL legend who had recently endorsed the ‘handicap’ angle. The Nightcap podcast co-host, Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson suggested that Noah Lyles give Hill an advantage. What and why? Here’ all about it.

Lyles seems uninterested in the handicap suggestion.

On the Nightcap podcast, Johnson stated, “I just know you would have to handicap it a little bit to make it somewhat even.” Speaking of the distance, Johnson seemed to believe that cutting short from the original distance to 50-60 yards. This would ensure that the two come down to a field of level play. Johnson even pointed out, “Once Noah allow get past 50 60 yards ain’t nobody keeping up I don’t give a f**k how fast you are because he’s built and trained for this as a track athlete.”

Thus, it seemed a fair bet that the distance be cut short. However, it looks like Noah Lyles ain’t vesting faith in this philosophy. Per his recent comments, he looks sure that Hill will have to run the entire stretch. What do you think of Lyles’ stand? Let us know below.