With the amount of hype that surrounds the NFL Scouting Combine and the 40-yard-dash, Adidas took it one step further by saying that they will offer the player who records the fastest 40-time a shoe contract. There have reportedly been billboards in Indianapolis advertising the contract, and even an ad in the Newspaper. The ad cut right to the chase and said: “Run the fastest 40, and get a contract offer.”
According to ESPN:
The company is using the ads to promote its lightweight adizero 5-star prime cleats, which weigh 5.3 oz. Players can run in adidas shoes should they choose, but a competitor, Under Armour, has the marketing rights to the combine. Players who sign with adidas can not wear the company’s logos on the playing field because adidas doesn’t have a marketing deal with the NFL, unlike Nike and Under Armour.
Adidas spokesman Michael Ehrlich said that the company will come through with an offer on a contract, but there is no minimum
After running West Virginia’s Tavon Austin and Texas’ Marquise Goodwin both ran an unofficial 4.25 40, it would appear that they are fully in the driver seat to get the contract. Don’t sleep on Tennessee’s Cordarrelle Patterson and South Carolina’s Ace Sanders though, they could post some fast times.
A fun stat, the Oakland Raiders have acquired four of the past six players that posted the fastest 40-time at the NFL Combine: DeMarcus Van Dyke (2011), Jacoby Ford (2010) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (2009) were drafted by the team, while Yamon Figurs (2007) signed with the team in 2010.