Track and field is one of the oldest sports in history, sheltering athletes from all across the globe. Big names include Usain Bolt, Sha’Carri Richardson, Paavo Nurmi, Edwin Moses, etc. Each of them has an established name in their event, standing out of the pack. And well, the sport in itself has a massive fanbase as people love the thrill. 

But, as they say, every good thing is too good to be true, track and field has its own problems. Mainly, the sport has less availability of competitions, limiting the pros to battle out among the rest. So, to dissect this problem, an NFL Quarterback has shared his thoughts on Twitter. 

Robert Griffin III, the popular NFL Quarterback pens down some major problems of track and field 

It is no secret that Robert Griffin is very active in track and field, as he loves to voice his opinions whenever needed. He not only shares facts but also pens down problems that need to be addressed. And now, he has spit the harsh reality of track and field by comparing it to NFL and NBA. 

To start off, NFL and NBA are two sports heavily backed by sponsorships. Companies like ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC, and more have poured millions of dollars to help the best of the best compete regularly. And that is something that irked Griffin as he pinpointed it in his Twitter post. He said,  “Outside the Olympics, World Championships, and diamond leagues, there is absolutely no incentive for the best to face the best on a routine basis.” 

Moving on, the NFL player explained how this is affecting the big names. After all, if you’re Usain Bolt competing at a low-tier tournament and a no-name defeats you, it leaves a mark on your career. So, if track and field would follow a systematic model where all players would get the desired platform to compete, things would be different. 

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Last but not least, Griffin stressed an example if the leagues were to shrink the player pool. The NFL quarterback explained, “The 400m hurdle, 49.5s that’s an impressive time. But if you say that is not a professional time, then see how many times it has been run this year. If you look it up, it is 52 times.” To sum up, the NFL player’s ideology, track and field needs to set up a perfect foundation for the future as it would help more and more athletes get the right platform. 

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