Bo Jackson’s 40-yard dash time, considered a supernatural 4.12 seconds, might be the most told NFL scouting story of all time.
Here’s the thing: It didn’t happen at the combine. Jackson says Raiders website in 2021, he didn’t even attend the event in 1986. He ran a 40 at Auburn that spring for NFL scouts, and he said it was timed at 4.13 seconds.
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Scouting has become a major NFL event on the sports calendar with extensive television coverage. There will be no more mysterious legends like Jackson’s legendary 40th birthday. We See Everything (But We Still Misremember Some Stories; Calvin Johnson Did It) not run for your 40th birthday in borrowed shoes as the story goes).
With the scouting combine set to take place next week in Indianapolis, here are the most memorable moments that actually happened:
Xavier Worthy’s record 40
We are impressed by the speed. That’s why the 40-yard dash has become the signature event of the combine, even though it’s probably not the best measure of a prospect’s performance in the pros.
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And of all the players who came and went at the combine, Xavier Worthy ran the fastest 40 of all, among official times. He ran a 4.21-second 40 in 2024.
Worthy was a first-round pick by the Chiefs. To date, he hasn’t become a star, with 1,170 receiving yards in two seasons.
Deion Sanders adds to his legend
Unlike Bo Jackson, Sanders actually ran the 40-yard dash at the combine. This was in 1989, when the group was in its infancy.
The story embellished over the years is that Sanders was convinced to drive a 40, drove it in record time and drove through the tunnel to a waiting limousine. This is not the case, Sanders told NFL Networkbut hey, this story fits the Sanders legend pretty well.
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Sanders ran what was often reported as a 4.27 40, which for years was considered the unofficial record. Sanders says his time was much faster than that. There was no video, so this will remain a Bunyanian tale.
“I don’t even think I did any stretching,” Sanders told NFL Network. “You know why? Because I’ve never seen a cheetah stretch before going for its prey.”
Tom Brady disappointing
Adding that in is a bit of a cheat, because it wasn’t memorable at the time. Brady was just a late-round quarterback from Michigan who had an unimpressive mix. But since then, his combine photo in shorts and nothing else resurfaces every year, as does the video of his freezing 40-yard dash.
Brady’s highlights seem funny because he became the most decorated player in NFL history, but it’s also a lesson that a player doesn’t need to crush Indianapolis teams to have an all-time great career.
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Saquon Barkley becomes perhaps the best RB prospect of all time
Barkley was a known entity coming out of Penn State and was a clear top pick in the 2018 draft, but his combined training took him to another level.
Barkley nailed just about every part of the overall workout, beating memorable players in every event. After the combine, he was considered perhaps the best running back prospect ever in the draft.
Barkley was not a workout warrior. He has had a fantastic career, including a 2024 season with the Philadelphia Eagles which is among the best ever for a running back.
Saquon Barkley had a phenomenal performance on the NFL scouting corps in 2018. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
(Joe Robbins via Getty Images)
Mike Mamula will be remembered forever
For years, Mamula was shorthand for a player who went to the combine, improved his draft stock through terrific coaching and ultimately was disappointing in the NFL.
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Mamula, a defensive end from Boston College, had a remarkable overall workout in 1995 that included a 40 of 4.58 seconds. He then jumped in the first round and was taken seventh overall by the Eagles. Mamula played five seasons with 31.5 career sacks, which was disappointing considering his draft position. The combine was still a new phenomenon when Mamula was doing his excellent training, and he was the first (of many) players remembered as combine training warriors who didn’t translate that to the field.
Vernon Davis, combines GOAT
Davis attended the combine in 2006, and it’s still arguably the greatest combine performance ever. Davis, a 254-pounder out of Maryland, set the tight end record in the 40-yard dash of 4.38 seconds. He also posted a vertical jump of 42 inches, a broad jump of 10 feet, 8 inches and did 33 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press.
Davis was drafted sixth overall by the 49ers, played 14 seasons in the NFL, making two Pro Bowls with 7,562 career yards. His true place in NFL history might have come before he was drafted, when he had a combine workout for the ages.
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Byron Jones world record
Jones, a UConn cornerback, had a broad jump of 12 feet, 3 inches at the 2015 combine. It was notable because the world record was just over 12 feet, 2 inches, set in 1968. Jones not only set an unofficial record, but he also advanced to the first round. He was picked 27th by the Cowboys after his impressive combine and had a seven-year NFL career.
Rich Eisen’s race
In 2005, NFL Network’s Rich Eisen ran the 40-yard dash in a suit, and a tradition was born. Eisen ran his first 40 in 6.77 seconds but improved after that, even breaking the six-second barrier on several occasions.
Eisen transformed his “Run rich, run” annual event in a charitable effort, raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to fight childhood cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
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Chris Jones has a malfunction
Jones had a great career as a defensive lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs, but his group had an embarrassing moment. Jones had a shorts malfunction during his 40-yard sprintHis privates came out of his shorts while he was running, so he dove at the end of the race and covered himself. Definitely a memorable, if embarrassing, moment.
Shaquem Griffin’s epic bench press
Griffin performed 20 reps on the bench press at the 2018 combine, which is unremarkable for most linebackers. But Griffin did it with a prosthetic hand.
Griffin had his left hand amputated at age 4 and had a successful college career at UCF playing with one hand. Then he had an incredible time on the bench press.
Griffin had another phenomenal moment when he ran a 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds, which is still the linebacker record. He was a fifth-round draft pick of the Seahawks and played in 46 games in the NFL.
