Arizona Cardinals

The fastest man in NFL Combine history shares his secrets

Published Feb. 24, 2016 9:27 a.m. ET

foxsports

INDIANAPOLIS -- Chris Johnson has some simple advice for the latest batch of hopefuls who will try to break his NFL Combine record for the 40-yard dash.

"The No. 1 key is to run fast," Johnson deadpanned. "It's 40 yards. Just run fast."

If it were only that simple.

Johnson's 4.24-second sprint during the 2008 pre-draft workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium remains the stuff of legend. Not only have more than 1,500 Combine participants fallen short of that mark since the Arizona Cardinals running back set it, Adidas is offering $1 million to anyone in this year's Combine class who can beat Johnson's time.

"It's crazy," Johnson told co-host Gil Brandt and me Tuesday night on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "I wish they had that (prize) when I was coming out.

"I feel like it's a great honor that somebody would want to pay somebody that much money just to beat my time."

Johnson was renowned for his speed in track-and-field even before arriving at East Carolina University. His college biography says Johnson had run the 100-meter dash in 10.62 seconds and was the anchor on the "fastest 4x100 relay team in the nation" while at Olympia High School in Orlando.

Like other top-end NFL hopefuls, Johnson worked with a speed coach (Tom Shaw) to try and bolster his 40-time heading into the Combine.

"I went in having problems with my start," Johnson said. "Working with (Shaw) helped me out."

Brandt, a long-time personnel guru with the Dallas Cowboys, said that was a wise move on Johnson's part.

"Normally when guys run the 40, their first move is to pop straight up instead of firing out," Brandt said. "Obviously when you're going forward, you're going to get there a lot quicker than if you go straight up when you first start running."

Brandt estimates he has witnessed or timed thousands of NFL athletes running the 40-yard dash during his 51 years working in the league. He uncovered schools taking short cuts at their own facilities to try and help players post better numbers. One college had a field with a slight downward slope, which Brandt detected by rolling a golf ball. Another marked the end of the course short of 40 yards by a few feet in hopes the scouts wouldn't notice.

Brandt also was in attendance when what are considered the two best unofficial 40 times in combine history were posted by running back Bo Jackson (4.18) and future Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders (4.21). Those numbers aren't officially recognized because they were timed by hand rather than electronically like Johnson's mark.

Brandt said there was nobody better at being able to judge 40 times with the blind eye than late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. Brandt recalled that he and Davis knew they had witnessed something special from the moment Johnson darted out of his stance, picked up speed with his dreadlocks flowing in the back and crossed the finish line without even showing much exertion on his face.

"I was always aiming to run at 4.25 (seconds)," said Johnson, who later that year became a first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans. "When I ran 4.24, I didn't know (the attention) would be to this extent or it would even be a record for this long."

Not that there haven't been scares. The closest anyone has come to Johnson's mark is Dri Archer, who posted a 4.26-second time during the 2014 combine that Johnson admitted on his Twitter account gave him a scare.

Besides being faster, there is something else that separated Johnson from Archer and other serious combine challengers to the 40 crown like Marquise Goodwin (4.27), DeMarcus Van Dyke (4.28) and Jacoby Ford (4.28).

Johnson's speed actually helped translate to NFL success.

Johnson is one of only six players in league history to post a 2,000-yard rushing season, finishing with 2,006 during the 2009 campaign. Johnson broke Marshall Faulk's NFL record for yards from scrimmage in that same season with 2,509.

Johnson, 30, has lost a step or two through the years -- who hasn't??? -- but he remains one of the NFL's top running backs. Following a disappointing 2014 campaign with the New York Jets where his streak of consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons was snapped at seven, Johnson rebounded last year after signing with the Cardinals when no other franchise had expressed interest. Johnson was on pace for an 1,184-yard season before suffering what proved a season-ending knee injury in Week 12.

Johnson still harbors bitterness toward ex-New York Jets general manager John Idzik for what he says were promises that weren't kept about what his role would be before signing as a free agent following his release from the Titans.

"A lot of people thought it was over for me not looking at the fact I didn't have that many opportunities or at my yards per carry (4.3)," said Johnson, who hopes to re-sign with the Cardinals. "This past season was just a situation where I went out there and showed I still had it."

Besides actually breaking Johnson's record, the only catch to claiming the $1 million Adidas prize is that the combine participant must be wearing the company's adizero 5-star 40 cleats. Johnson plans to be gracious if the mark should fall this week.

"I'll be honest -- I don't want to see the record go," Johnson said. "But if somebody does break it, I'll be happy for him. I'll give him a handshake and congratulate him.

"But they'll probably be more proud of getting the $1 million than me giving the handshake."