The change of direction and speed modulation are what make the difference. It’s like a top fuel dragster vs a formula 1 car

I got to play basketball with Justin once. My team got on a fast break, and I was sprinting all out to try to get an open layup on the other end. Seeing him casually jogging down the court and flying past everybody was special. I used to play basketball with Doug Baldwin who played WR in the NFL for several years, and he was way faster than us, but Justin had that speed just jogging. The way Doug changed directions was elite. The way Justin runs straight is elite. Like he said, totally different worlds.

This is pure wisdom. Football players are gazelle’s and track athletes are cheetahs. Also excellent point about track athletes not being conditioned to stop

The cheetah vs gazelle comparison is a top tier comparison

Best explanation of this topic I've every heard. Another way to say it is that track is about top speed...football is about quickness. In football you are never going to run 100 meters so your top speed at 100 meters doesn't matter. Football is about quick acceleration. That's why football uses the 40 yard dash to measure speed and quickness.

There were guys that I could never beat on the track, but they could never catch me on the football field because I didn’t have to run in a straight line. There is definitely a difference between lateral quickness which I had and the straight ahead speed that they had.

That stop and go is real talk that's how football players that run 4.5,4.6 can still play in nfl and be successful playing against guys that run 4.3,4.2 they can stop and go and create separation or close space quickly

This is the big difference between RG3 and Lamar Jackson. RG3 ran track at a high-level (NCAA championship and record) and did track workouts. His body wasn’t developed for the lateral shifting and pounding of the NFL. Lamar ran track in high school, but was all football in college. He’s much more gazelle with cheetah speed.

Full vid please. My son needs to watch this. All young athletes need to hear this bit of sports wisdom.

Since the days of Bob Hayes football and track have diverged into two completely different types of speed, and two distinct Sciences and Techniques.

Continue to support justin and other track athletes.😊

This was very interesting comparison Justin Gatlin made between football v. track athletes. I thought Justin's comparison with gazelle v. cheetah was pretty sharp.

I've perhaps never before heard Justin Gatlin speak, and this brief interview contained surprisingly intriguing insights.

Justin hit it right on the money.

Great analogy Justin.

One thing I noticed when I bounced track to football and also dabbled off season in b-ball and soccer on wing, was that football requires a warrior switch for the combat-contact element that doesn't seem to exist in those guys. Nobody is pure breezing through a career without occasionally taking a physical beating. First guy is correct a speedy footballer has the intensity to train hard on form and drop weight to run track faster, but track,soccer and b-ball don't desire the occasional feeling of a small car crash. I think footballers and rugby dudes have a bit of military style fighting spirit, where you expect pain and collision as a rite of passage and kinda like it as a badge. Those other sport cats I spent time with definitely felt soft and often acted harder than they were but didn't want any piece of it when I suggested trying football for some of the more athletic guys.

This was fantastic. Thank you so much gentleman. God bless.

I love this channel so much… great information, learning a lot.

Great breakdown!

This was a great explanation by both of them 💯💯💯💯

Change of direction is key with football, and then the repetitiveness of acceleration and deceleration throughout 60 something odd plays

Wishing the best for you J Gatlin def subbing to this channel!! 💯💯

Great discussion. Thanks.

With track it one straight line and with football you have to stop and start and turn at a different angle all the time.

Great conversation guys!

I played in the NFL and trained with Olympic sprinters in the off season, so I know the cheetah/gazelle analogy is not good. There is no animal equivalent of a 100 meter sprinter in nature because that kind of skill is essentially worthless anywhere in nature. To run perfectly straight with nothing in your way not having to dodge or catch anything and do nothing all day but run is only useful on the track and essentially useless anywhere else. A track athlete is a dragster and a football player is a Formula 1 race car. The dragster can only do one thing - Go ballz out fast in a perfectly straight line for a very short time and can't even slow itself down because THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE BREAKS. Football players are Formula 1 cars that have to do everything - stop, start, slow down, speed up, turn, maneuver, pass other cars, block other cars, etc. The dragster is faster on the dragstrip track (a short straight line) and the Formula 1 race car is faster on the Formula 1 track AND EVERYWHERE ELSE, because nature and athletics is much more like a Formula 1 track than a dragstrip. Football players (typically) look at track as a workout, something to do in the offseason to train for football. Also, I beat those Olympic track athletes in the 40, and they dusted me in the 100, so that's the difference. Also, they don't let us football players run out of blocks in the 40 like they do in track, and if they did our times would actually be a lot faster, once we're trained on how to use blocks properly. Track requires you to reach TOP SPEED so you need long strides with high knees, while football requires QUICKNESS so you need shorter strides with your feet kept closer to the ground so you can cut/stop/start quickly - Look at Deon Sander's stride, looking like he's "stepping" with his feet barely leaving the ground so he can stop/start/cut quickly. There are times when you can use track speed (long stride high knee top speed) on the football field, but these times are rare. This is the main reason why so many track athletes don't work in football and vice-a-versa.

All fantastic points. It’s precisely why you see trindon run a combine 4.3 knowing good and gd well if his body was in track form, he’s lopping a quarter of a second off the top no problem. Muscle structure is mission critical when we’re talking speedsters and how their body must perform in the nfl. Trindon also wouldn’t be running at an ncaa final 168 pounds like he was on combine day nor could he bench 2 plates 10 times weight a buck fifty and change. Speed maintenance isn’t the point of football running which is why a track star also isn’t going to tail an explosive RB and chase them down through holes. We saw Calvin Johnson do it in a straight line but that makes sense

Great points. Some people are just fast, with or without equipment, aka Darrell Green. He still kept a very small build because of being a DB. Demps, and even now T. Hill put on lots of muscle to take the constant pounding. Hard to have a long career as a speed guy in the nfl. We all wish track guys did/will make good money in their career.

I really like this comparison

Ron Brown (LA 1984 relay team and US nationals top 4) was the best example. LA Rams wide receiver. Good hands

I think the thing to remember about that gazelle-cheetah comparison, is that the gazelle usually gets away

Well said, particularly the cheetah analogy. Always said the reason Barry Sanders was so great was his ability to stop and start. Fast, yes, but that isn't why tacklers whiffed on him.

Tyreek is a rare track guy that's actually good at football... he ran 20.14 in high-school which is 4th all time and 10.1

I did both football to track. I ran track to get faster at football! We didnt have foam rollers back then probably why my back hurts now lol! Great question and answer!

Look how thick RBs are. The NFL is full of guys under 6' who are well over 200 pounds and don't get caught. They need those thick haunches and legs to change direction and move piles.

Can't wait to see what Devon Achane does this year.

Most of the top speed professional Football players were the fastest players in their middle school and some in high-school. But over time not focusing solely on training for speed they lose some track speed. professional sprinters got their speed from training day in day out. But I guarantee you they was getting beat in Highschool and some in college by athletes who were dedicated to Football. Look at how many college football players were state 100meter champions in high school. I know Olympians who was getting beat by players in Highschool they just chose Football.

Honestly wonder what would have happened if Calvin Johnson had run track. The man was 6’ 5”, 240 lbs, crappy starting technique, and still ran a casual 4.35 40. Imagine him with proper technique and 60 lbs lighter. The races between him and Bolt might have been epic.

Good conversation 👌

4.0, 40 yard dash is insane. If he can catch, he could take the top off of any defence.

Great point on being able to stop and start as a great skill set in football. I'm a Bears fan and so many football fans think Devin Hester was the fastest person in the team or the league when he wasn't, it was his ability to maintain near full speed while making cuts/jukes that set him apart. His teammate Johnny Knox was actually faster in a straight line. .....Barry Sanders is another football legend that could go full speed and stop on a dime and go back to full speed

Only a fool would believe football players belong on the track, against track and field athletes. It isn't even remotely close.

Another thing football players need is head-stabilization. Randy Moss could be in full-stride, but his head never bobbled, allowing him to see the football clearly. But to piggyback on your analogy, sounds like track athletes need long, strong tails like cheetahs in order to turn on a dime. Science can fix that. :D

Some football athletes have on field speed which is faster than track athletes period. Like Daryl green or Deion Sanders. Deion was fast on the track but faster on the field in play.

Cheetahs turn on a dime as well. Split second direction change. That’s why they have a long tail

Justin is certainly qualified to speak on this subject. He was able to run a sub 10 second 100 meters up until around age 38?

Justin Gatlin ran like a 4.42 at the NFL Combine when he was younger. I'm calling BS on any 4.0 talk.

Track athletes treat their bodies completely opposite of Football Players do... We definitely respect Track athletes cuz many of us also ran track... Much respect... The crazy thing is when guys think they can transition into Football... It's a specialty sport... It's far more brutal and callous than you think...

First guy hits it on the head. NFL is more about start and stop, agility and acceleration. Also right about there’s great football players who also run track then you get those track guys who try to play football. Big difference.

Gatlin Nuff respect 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

Great points. Muscle mass and hips are different. Also coordination is needed more in football

People in these comments are hilarious. Gatline perfectly describes what and why there are differences between track sprinters and American football. Also those saying he did not run sub 4.0. People are comparing them both like Coleman is leagues ahead of Gatlin. He is not. There's a 14-year age gap and when was Justin meant to have clocked this time? He was banned twice for performance enhancements

does anyone know what cap Justin is wearing and where i can buy it thx

🔥🔥🔥

Draymond's long lost grandpa

Nfl is more about change of direction. Track is pure straight line speed

Quick is more important that fast. Short space speed and change of direction is where it's at in nfl. Otherwise you are just running 7s,8s and 9s and on the field rarely.

Tyreke Hill spoke about getting smoked in a foot race by "a dude that looks like Drake". That guy was Andre De Grasse, Canadian olympic sprinter. Tyreke himself said it wasn't even close.

I got into Rugby by way of former sprinter Rugby 7s Winger Carlin Isles trying out for the Detroit Lions. He claimed at the time he could do4.2 all day when he impressed with his speed.

Perhaps a player like like Xavier Worthy who recently ran a 4.21 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Combine and wasn't wearing elite track spikes could possibly run at world class level speed if he gave up football and focused exclusively on track.

You can run a 3.9 in the 40… if you can’t catch the ball, have lateral movement, start/stop speed AND take a hit, then it doesn’t matter.

I ran track I was really fast the only thing I had problems with my knees. From 8th grade to my senior year of highschool. Come state meet time I use to lose in the semis or the finals to guys who ran track. I use to go to my coach he said no way those are faster than you. You just need it more weight training cause the injuries I had to my knees

Football players are like fast street cars( mustang hellcat Camaro) Track athletes are like high performance race cars

Both men hit it. They made all the great points but I don’t think they expanded enough on the pure weight. People don’t realize how small the fastest men in the world are. Usain was 6’5” essentially and wasn’t even 200 lbs. Xavier worthy was the fastest 40 meter runner… partially because he’s the thinnest player in the combine.

I love how he says obtuse angles😭 wish more football players cared about physics, I was strong asl and used true leverage to my advantage to be all state my senior year, I was not that tall and I was a nose guard🤣 6’0 265 but could run sub 5 and sub 2.1 10yd split

100m: 9.80 - Track, will get you a top 5 finish in World's any year 9.95 - Track, will get you a top 10 finish in World's any year 9.95 - NFL, Fastest ever by a player, in 1968 (some nobody) 10.0 - 10.4 - NFL, top 10 fastest players of all time... Darrell Green, Herschel, Deion, etc Fastest active players: 10.15 - Raheem Mostert on Dolphins 10.19 - Tyreek Hill on Dolphins Basically the fastest player in the NFL could make it to the Olympics but would probably finish last.

straight lines against air vs routes against a db. we needed a video about this?

Multiple football players running sub 10 over 200lbs…case closed 😂

Tony Dorset was the greatest at stopping and starting.

Willie Gault

Football takes a certain mentality to play well. You even see it with some college kids coming to the NFL they are elite prospects, they get roughed up in the league and the lose that confidence and killer edge and never get it back.

"Cheetah Vs Gazelle"

So track is all gas no brakes

Track athletes in college run 4.2 40’s in their sleep without warming up when warm up they’re running way faster than that in 40 yards anything under 4.2 and they don’t make the team in track that’s mind boggling

If tyreek Hill only trained the 100 meters, he’d be an Olympic medalist. They’re trained to run differently.

some track athletes play football and some football players run track. injuries playing football, a hurt gazelle is a goner. can't really label an entire group. case by case.

I mean look at Darius Howard bey

Does the size needed for football affect the speed? Going from 180 to 160 with close to the same legs strength?

I dont buy into the track and football speed is different as theres too many crossover examples I think its more to with the body type. Usain Bolt would be an awkward footballer, while world class apronters like Marlon Humphrey or Tony Brown (both hurdlers) are excellent quick twitch DB's

In car terms, Supercharger vs Turbo Or Turbo vs Twin turbo

Football players with speed have to be able to control that speed. You can't control top speed in any way but to go straight. Same in the jump events. You cant control your body in the jump phases if you are going to fast so it has to be controlled speed.

The Cheetah is better than the Gazelle in everything speed, turning, stopping, the advantage the Gazelle has is the distance the Cheetah starts its chase from mostly 300 meters.

Christian Coleman ran a 4.12. No way he ran a 4 flat

I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but if the question is for Justin Gatlin, why is he taking up so much time answering it potentially taking away Gatlin's angles for responding. It's a good thing Gatlin knows a lot about the body and training.

There are over 100 college track and field all Americans in the NFL....

Speed cannot make you a football player.

Like Justin said, you have to have a little more muscle & weight to withstand the punishment of football. Plus you can’t just focus on speed & phases, you have to hone the skills for your position too. I didn’t play football my junior year, so my I didn’t train for it. I pretty much stayed on my track regime (lifting, training & diet), that was the quickest I’ve ever been. Even though I’m 5’8, I’ve always been a top end guy. I was faster my senior year but on a side by side, it was like a shot out of a canon my junior year.

these guys acting like they haven't heard of marquise goodwin

Hometeam Pcola’s finest #WoodamTitan#850

Deion Sanders is a great example

The cheetah vs gazelle by Gatlin is spot on. The "cheetah" ( track star ) runs with more elevation off of the ground and a higher center of gravity, thus stopping, making cuts and turns will be slower.. The gazelle (football player ) runs lower to the ground, lower center of gravity. They are good at really short bursts of acceleration but once top end speed comes into the picture the track stars will win. This lower center of gravity can put more force in the ground for cuts, turns, spins, stop/starts, etc....

No shade to him but Renaldo Nehemiah couldn't catch a cold .

Tyreek wasn’t a footballer that ran track. It was the opposite. He had athletics scholarships 1st. He said that himself on Club Shay Shay.

la tocca piano Gatlin

Tyreek is not the best example he ran 10.17/20.14 is HS. Last time I checked same HS 200 time as Noah Lyles and Michael Norman

all justin gotta do to convert his speed and be able to do all those cutting, deaccelerating and accerlarting and stopping on a dime is perform at 75% speed and those cuts will transition right over to football literally overnight. doing all the track drills high knees and butt kicker actually already translate a lot of the short speeed part of the game of footbal. form there the only other aspect tho to consider outside of the physical aspect and the skill aspect is running with 10-12 lbs of armor that also change the dynamics of your speed. but shit,, 4.0 raw speed will translate to ANY sport given you harness the other skills to it.

Mhmm and not once did he say 30 track athletes or 30 nfl players can play each other sport

There is no proof for denser muscles. Only for more or less muscles.

Tigers vs cheetahs I feel would be more appropriate

It’s the same thing with soccer ⚽️ and rugby 🏉