AS IF THE NFL Combine โ where a playerโs draft stock can rise and fall in a split second โ wasnโt high pressure enough, sports giants adidas have upped the ante by offering $1 million to any player who can break the record for the fastest 40-yard dash.
The current record was set by Chris Johnson back in 2008 when he covered the 40 yards (35.6m) in 4.24 seconds. For comparison, based on his world record in the 100m, Usain Boltโs 40-yard dash time would be 4.13 seconds.
However, according to FTW, there is one fairly significant catch to what looks like a very generous offer.
To be eligible for the prize, you have to break the record wearing a pair of the companyโs new โadizero 5-starโ boots.
Itโs not the first time adidas has tried to tempt athletes to wear their gear.
Last year they offered $100,000 to the athletes who ran the three fastest 40s but failed to give any money to Alabamaโs JJ Nelson despite him running the fastest time of all (4.28 seconds).
Nelsonโs problem? He was wearing another companyโs boots.
Why is there such outrage about aki playing for ireland but there never was for payne strauss etc??
@Jack: Itโs because people love a good moan, let the lad do what he does best and play good rugby. It will benefit the national team in the long run.
@Jack: Well the simple answer is that Irish people are very racist, isnโt it?
@Jack: Cause his name and skin colour are different to our idea of Irish.
Picture this. Imagine he came over, as a Kiwi centre from Super Rugby, three years done and invested hugely in the community and culture of his surrounding. But imagine he was white, and had a European name. Like picture all of the same factors but just change those details.
I wasnt describing him. I was describing Payne.
@Havid Dickey: bang on the money.
@Havid Dickey: Spot on man. Itโs absolutely disgusting to see. Heโs been outstanding for Connacht and has integrated into life in Galway from the off. Youโd often see him round town & heโs always smiling & chatty. The guyโs a absolute hero & so talented that we should be glad he can finally play for Ireland.
@Jack: Id say its because heโs black.
The race thing is silly and is simply a way to win the argument because yis know people are afraid to come across as racist. What about the fact that there was a massive push to change the rules last year and it likely changed peoples minds? What about the fact that ireland has good player debth now, so dont need to resort to poaching foreign players? What about the fact that other nations put time and money into developing a world class player only to have another nation with more money lure them away? There are so many reasons to hate the โproject playerโ system that have nothing to do with race. Plenty of non irish sounding/looking players have played for us without any complaint. Niyi Adeolokun moved here as a kid, and developed his rugby here, so he receives no hate from the media (as far as im aware of). Michael Bent got massive abuse on the other hand, despite being of Irish decent, because he played for Ireland before playing for Leinster.
@Ciarรกn: Spot on. You wouldnโt get this in Wales. There are loads of blacks playing rugby in Wales and people donโt see them as any different.
@Rudiger McMonihan: nonsense. Its clearly obviously a race issue compared to reaction to Payne CJ etc
Also, its very easy to jump to the defence of project player poaching, when an eijit like Neil Francis is attacking it. But the biggest opponent and influencer of its change was Agustin Pichot, who wasnt fighting it out of racism. He was fighting it because it puts teams like Argentina at a massive disadvantage
@bread of heaven: Like who? Falatau grew up in Wales. I cant think of anyone else
@Range Rover: Payne came in immediately after BOD retired and we had no replacements. He still got plenty of people calling for him to be dropped. Also, both players came in before tge push to change the rules which was the main point of my original comment
@Rudiger McMonihan: Sorry, we donโt have any black โprojectโ players, if thatโs what you mean. We can produce our own players instead of just poaching them from elsewhere
@bread of heaven: Faletau?
Grand, next time im arguing Adam Byrne should get picked because he scores loads of tries and someone claims his defense is poor iโll call them racist. I
@Rudiger McMonihan: I think youโre being intellectually dishonest.
@Jack: there was the same for the other foreigners and rightly so, its a financial decision for these guys to play for ireland and its their greed that takes the irish jersey off an irish mans back who grew up with the dream of playing for ireland, its not right. You can dress it up anyway you want but its not right.
@Havid Dickey: every body with an issue on this also had and still have an issue with payne and stander
@Rudiger McMonihan: the only person talking sense here.
@Tommy Bread: But they simply didnโt Tommy. Some did certainly. No doubt. Remember the media uproar over Herring or Roux? I donโt.
@Havid Dickey: thats because the media arent going to talk about average players. If this wasnt an issur with the game then why has it been pushed from 3 years to 5?
@Paul K Murphy: because how would it make sense financialy to go away and have to start your residency period all over again in england or france last summer? โฆ i can remember ben teo coming to ireland too and selling himself as loving ireland and couldnt wait to play, who is he playing for now? โฆ. how naive are you? what about the winger who said while playing league he would never play for england? plays on the wing in union now?
@Tommy Bread: No, Ben Teโo said he was gonna go to England at the start of his Leinster contract. He has English family. Thats why he only signed up for 2 years. Also it is relevant that Aki and Stander are good players . None of our other project players were โpoachedโ because they were never gonna be AllBlacks or Boks. We got that sob story abou CJ being asked to play in the front row and that made everyone justify it, but the reality was different. Look at the number of Super Rugby caps CJ got at a young age, his underage success and the fact that South Africa have changed coaches twice now since then. Hed have certainly been a Bok and Aki in my opinion would have been an AB
@Rudiger McMonihan: no he had two year contract to keep open the option of going back to league, google old interviews and he says if people at ireland think im good enough i will do the extra year as he wanted to play big games. Then he said afterwards a year is a long time in sports so didnt know if ireland would still want him so he played for england as they wanted him right away.
@Sherrypop Curtis: secondarily agreed
@Paul K Murphy: so you think he left new zealand and came to connacht because he had a sudden urge to play for a country he had never been too? or do you think maybe money motivated that decision? i dont think many french teams wanted him then to be honest? saili was in the all blacks team ahead of him amd he wasnt that highly regarded even thou he was in a brilliant chiefs teamโฆ as for stander he was offered more in ireland last time round so lets see how he deals with it this time because he is in the last year of his contract.
@Paul K Murphy: why do you think the residency rule was extended from 3 years to 5? surely if it was a good thing for international rugby it would have been shortened?
@Ciarรกn ร Dรกilaigh: agreed man. Full-on! Itโs been horrible on Bundee. I never say this but Jesus it is just a game.
@Jack: pure and simple the reason is one word RACISM!! Heโs the first overtly non Irish looking overseas player to be selected!!
@Rudiger McMonihan: Yes but Aki has done his apprenticeship and earned his call up as opposed to Bent who was parachuted in as it was called at the time and proved to be a disaster for Ireland.
@Rudiger McMonihan: Payne and Henshaw were both playing FB but Payne was already experienced in the outside backs. Remember Rob Kearney commenting on how big they were. Wonder what he thinks of Stockdale, Farrell and McCloskey?
@Paul K Murphy: you say they stayed when they could have made more money abroad and then you ask how i know how much stander was offered? back to the drawing board ya numptyโฆ. are you going to answer my question either no? โฆ. and i didnt call any of them a mercenary bud, they are making money and fair play to them. my problem is that the irb have allowed this to happen, they have seen they are wrong and tried to fix it fairness but 5 aint long enough either. if you have to tell yourself these guys love ireland to enjoy the game on satyuday on the high stoll then thats fine but i feel sorry for stuart mcclosky and rory scannell among others over the years who have to miss out.
heโs the first overtly non irish looking player?? What part of Ireland is the Ah You family name from? Look i honestly dont care about the whole denying a hardworkin irishman yarn, โblah blah blah Paddy OโSpudface has been squating sheep and deadlifting cattle for years, only to be bested by a furiner, etc etcโ. What i care about is international rugby not turning into club rugby, where wealth determines the best team. Is there racism in ireland? Yes, obviously, just read the comment sections on thejournal on anything to do with muslims, trump or brexit if you want proof of thad. However, i dont agree that wanting players to qualify for citizenship before qualifying for the national team is racist.
@Paul K Murphy: Yes but the majority of people arent saying that he should never get to play for Ireland. The fact is that national teams were taking advantage of the 3 year rule so much that it had to be changed. Now that it has been ruled unfair by the majority of rugby playing nations, Aki is the first player to come through it before the rule is changed in 2 years. To simply say โeveryone is against this because they are racistโ is wrong, just as its wrong to say โyou must be born in ireland, fluent in irish, a member of the Ra and live on a diet of potatoes and guinness if you want to play for irelandโ.
@bread of heaven: Shane Howarth, Rupert Moon, Alex Cuthbert, Brent Cockbain, Jason Jones-Hughes, Tony Copsey, Tom Shanklin, Thomas Francis, Colin Charvisโฆ Shall i go on?
People trying to make this a race issue are ridiculous. Are you new to rugby or did you just happen to miss the sh-t the Kearneys, Heaslip, Bowe, Earls, McFadden, carberry(for his kicking) etc. have gotten in the last 2 years especially? Or did you miss all the times stander was the one picked on last year because of the residency rule? Or did you miss no one cared when Adeolokun got a cap because heโs not a project/residency rule player? Or did you miss when Bundee got the call up to Irish camp so did Tyler B and they both got sh-t written about them not just Bundee if Tyler got the call up this week as well he would be in all these articles as well no doubt. Itโs not about race itโs about the project player/ residency rule system. The rule was changed recently because people werenโt happy with the 3 years it had nothing to do with race.
Welcome to the love of the green, Bundee. Do it and us proud.
If there is one thing I know for sure after growing up, and spending my whole life thus far in this country, is that Irish people can be embarrassingly racist without even realising that are are doing so.
@Dave Barry: I have felt that way a number of times also.. The only times where I actually felt ashamed of being Irish. It took me by surprise the first time as I was always proud of how sound Irish folk generally were.
@Dave Barry: Rubbish. We are in general a very tolerant lot with other racists and cultures. Every race/culture has its little prejudices against what is seen as โthe other lotโ and no doubt we do too , but for a small indigenous population we have so far handled the migration into Ireland very well and been very accepting. There are many small towns in Ireland with 15 to 20% immigrant population but little or no ethnic tensions. Very few if any other countries can say this.
@Jg Igoe: Iโm not painting the entire country with the same brush, Iโm saying certain Irish people can be.
Is there really โintense debate over the contentious rulingโ or is it just these media articles that continue to rehash Neil Francisโ viewpoint? Itโs not like Francis has a large support base for this particular view, so why make it seem like there is?
@Vincent Ward: totally agree. Intense debate among the media who need to sell papers
@Vincent Ward: Whatever about Francis I thought the joke from Brian OโDriscollโs rugby app was particularly distasteful. A joke which was liked by the man himself on instagram. Heโs certainly someone who should know better than carry on like that.
@Rochelle:
Couldnโt agree more. Thereโs been some suggestion that some of the furore surrounding akiโs selection is down to racism, I think, for the most part, probably not. There was controversy and teeth gnashing over stander and payne too.
That post though, โtag a mate who thinks heโs irishโ on a photo of aki was sickening. The obvious implication being, he canโt be Irish cos heโs dark. As someone born in Belfast to immigrant parents as well it was pretty jolting to see a mainstream commercial app post something like that.
@Rochelle: I was wondering how Rochelle was going to have a go at Leinster on this one. He never disappoints
@Chris Mc: In fairness she has a point, definitely crossed the line between humour and poor taste with that one
@Rochelle: I really it didnโt the reaction to that meme it was a joke. If you go on any of the various rugby Instagram sites the memes are a lot more brutal then making a joke about a man whoโs not Irish(Aki has said himself plenty of times heโs doesnโt consider himself Irish) playing for Ireland. It wasnโt that big of a deal. But convenient how you also fail to mention Zebo also liked the meme on Instagramโฆ,
@Vincent Ward: Francis does have a large support base in fact, and not just in Dublin.
He will be a star for Ireland and he is very welcome.
Once he scores his first try he will be a national hero :)
Fantastic player. Delighted to see him line out for Ireland.
As the coach of the Galwegians ladies rugby team, he has invested more time and energy into the local community then most of his critics. But it goes unmentioned and unheralded.
Hope he has a stormer and his partnership with Henshaw is every bit as effective as it was for Connacht.
I donโt think it has anything to do with racism, but more anger about Zebo being left out. If we were all as racist as youโre saying then surely Zebo wouldnโt be so popular. It is very disappointing though that people have turned on Bundee Aki; every other country in the world does this so why do we take such exception to it?
@amusing_musings: Zebo is Irishโฆ it is racism on Bundi
@amusing_musings: have you even seen the abuse Zebo gets on here???
@reg gordon: What about the abuse Kearney, McFadden, Stander, Heaslip and so on get? Nothing to do with race.
I just want to know when heโs being sent to Leinster?
I think most of the ill-feeing towards Aki comes from that interview he did a while ago where he wasnโt 100% sure if staying with Connacht and playing with Ireland was what he wanted to do, which I think is completely fair. No foreign born player is born with ambitions of playing for another country, it takes time to learn the new culture and see if it fits for that particular player.
And at the time for Aki, he wasnโt completely sure about it, but we can clearly see now that heโs committed to Connacht and committed to Ireland which I personally think is a great thing and that heโs an excellent addition to the national squad. Looking forward to seeing what he can do this Saturday.
Iโm chuffed that he is going to play for us as he brings an entirely new dimension. He is absolutely world class.
The fact that he was still sitting on the fence as to whether he would declare for Ireland until very recently, youโd have to question his commitment though. How much does it mean to him to be pulling on the green jersey?
@Cathal: You just beat me to this point. Aki will be a great asset to the Irish team but he left himself open to ridicule by not committing sooner to Ireland. I believe his casual approach to the idea provoked the negative attitude of some commentators. However now that heโs playing itโs time we all supported him.
@Tom Reilly: Nope, Aki is just honest. He put his cards on the table and let the IRFU make the decision. They are the ones who decided he is good enough to play for Ireland and he will play his heart out because that is who he is
If you have an issue it should be with the IRFU and Joe Schmidt because they picked him
Bundee Aki is a professional athlete who will always do his job as it should be
Btw I will put money for him to either score a try or get a yellow card on Saturday because he plays with a passion we donโt see that often in professional sport ( obviously Iโm hoping for the try)
@reg gordon: I donโt think you understand what I am saying. Again, I believe the reason some commentators have reacted more vociferously to Akiโs inclusion in contrast to other project players is the fact that Bundee did not commit to Ireland sooner. I am not casting any aspersions on the player ,only trying to point out why some commentators have reacted the way they have. Now you assume I have an issue with Akiโs inclusion.I donโt by the way;I am very happy he has decided to join us and I am excited to see how he goes.
@Tom Reilly: You are completely right I missed your original point and see that now.
Apologies!
Because that Racist clown Neil Francis doesnโt think heโs white enough to be Irish
If it was Bundi McCaki thereโd be no bother.
Jeez, 42 you sure are flogging this horse to death. How many more times are you going to recycle this story? Move on pleaseโฆโฆ
Irish people live to be racist while anonymous.
@Range Rover: sure would you blame them really? Everyoneโs entitled to an opinion but when itโs about a black man youโre declared a racist. Why would any man tarnish his name by revealing who he is when his reputation/job could be brought into question because he posted an opinion on an online forum. The PC brigade are grtting way too out of control
Donโt remember any of this guff when Charlton got Cascarino playing for Ireland?
Itโs a complicated issue with multiple view points but one which is certainly influenced by common, sometimes deep seeded, Irish racism in my view.
Jesus what will we be like when someone from the traveller community gets an international capโฆ
Aki came here to play Rugby. Stayed the 3 years. Qualified to play. End of. WR have changed the rule to 5 years starting in a couple of years. If โIrish bornโ players were better they would have been selected.
Schmidt is trying to get results and picking who he thinks can best bring that home. (I donโt agree with many of his selections but I ainโt the coach)
Franno has a short memory. An Australian out half, Brian Smith, played 9 rugby internationals for Ireland between 1989 and 1991. He had previously played 5 times for Australia. It was not as if Franno refused to play with him??
come live in ireland for three years you can play but leave ireland to play else were your dropped even if your one of the top players in the world funny group these rubgy guys
Once Saturdays game is over the subject will be too. People love a moan but if scores the match winning TRY theyโll be calling him Bundi McAki