Speed is not enough

[Patler]

The Packer released Terrell Sinkfield on Friday. He is the guy who supposedly ran a 4.19 sec. 40 yard dash at the MN pro day. The Packers signed him in early June. He had been signed by Miami in early May and released at the end of May.

Even with elite speed (his 40 was faster than Chris Johnson's) and decent size (6' 200 lbs.)he didn't even make it to training camp after being signed by two different teams.

[Maxie the Taxi]

Patler, do you think it is telling -- in light of Greg Jennings' departure -- that the Pack even gave this guy a tryout?

Also, thought you might enjoy this article from the vault...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1013510/

A couple of cool quotes...


Old-school coaches of the time didn't believe in the 40. A young Marv Levy, then the coach at California, asked Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi in the early '60s how fast Paul Hornung ran. "What the hell difference does it make?" Lombardi boomed. "He gets to the end zone, doesn't he? Fourteen seconds, I don't know."

Well into the '50s, most NFL teams used the 100 or the 50. Veteran scout Bucko Kilroy, now with the New England Patriots, attended the 1957 East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco. "Hornung ran the 50 against Abe Woodson, the Big Ten hurdles champ from Illinois," Kilroy says. "When you think of Hornung, you don't think of him being that fast. Hornung beat him by five yards."

[Pugger]

Yes, it makes you wonder what his issue is seeing we were his second team and he couldn't stick around for more than a couple of weeks. Maybe his problem is between the ears and not a physical one?

[Patler]

Patler, do you think it is telling -- in light of Greg Jennings' departure -- that the Pack even gave this guy a tryout?

Also, thought you might enjoy this article from the vault...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1013510/

A couple of cool quotes...


Yes, it makes you wonder what his issue is seeing we were his second team and he couldn't stick around for more than a couple of weeks. Maybe his problem is between the ears and not a physical one?

Teams always look for speed, and guys who have it get chance after chance. TT has tended to give looks to a lot of guys who are fast, but he doesn't actually sign them as he did with this guy.

Pugger - I agree, it does make you wonder. There is some negative about him that caused two teams to decide not to even waste training camp reps on his development. If he was real small, I could understand; but, he has decent size for a WR. Yet both GB and Miami had seen enough after having him signed to their roster for a month or so, but with very little work in the way of practices.

I thought his speed might buy him a week or two in training camp anyway.

[KYPack]

The kid's "camp number" during OTA's was 5.

That should have been a sign that the boy was doomed.

[Guiness]

I agree with Patler, speed gets your foot in the door.

With that kind of speed, he must've have a ridiculously glaring fault to get him cut that quickly. Best guess is that his hands were horrible, because otherwise he'd at least get a shot as a KR.

[ThunderDan]

I agree with Patler, speed gets your foot in the door.

With that kind of speed, he must've have a ridiculously glaring fault to get him cut that quickly. Best guess is that his hands were horrible, because otherwise he'd at least get a shot as a KR.

+1, a lot of really fast guys don't have the hands. Very few track guys make the conversion; the best I can think off of the top of my head is Al Toon. Also that Neimiah guy on SF but it looks like he only played 40 games before going back to track full-time.

[bobblehead]

I have been anti 40 for a LONG time. I recall people being pissed about drafting James "slowfoot" Jones, but amped about David Clowny and Aaron Rouse. Give me football instincts and angles over speed anyday. It is true that speed helps, but to be great you have to have a lot more than speed.

[Guiness]

+1, a lot of really fast guys don't have the hands. Very few track guys make the conversion; the best I can think off of the top of my head is Al Toon. Also that Neimiah guy on SF but it looks like he only played 40 games before going back to track full-time.

Yup, they're not all Bob Hayes. Willie Gault was a handful, but mostly because you had to single cover him with Walter Payton there.

[Old School]

This reminds me of when I was working in a variety store many years ago. The high school football coaches hung out at our fountain. They convinced the manager to hire the starting running back on the football team. One day they were bragging about how nobody could catch him or stop him. The manager said, "We're still trying to find out how to get him started."

[Guiness]

Looks like Jeff Demps will be running the 4x100 before joining the Bucs.