In case anyone was wondering, Robert Griffin III is fast.
Griffin, Baylor’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, was unofficially timed at 4.41 seconds in the 40-yard dash on his first attempt Sunday morning at the NFL Scouting Combine. That’s a fast time for any position, but for a quarterback it’s amazing. At least, it’s amazing for anyone other than Griffin, who ran even faster on his second attempt, finishing at 4.38 seconds.
If the 4.38-second time holds up officially, Griffin will be the fastest quarterback to run at the Combine in at least 12 years, as far back as complete and official data on the Combine is kept.
Griffin, who was an All-American hurdler at Baylor before deciding to devote himself completely to football, said he was hoping to finish in under 4.4, and he was actually shaking his head and looking disappointed after his first 40-yard dash, as if he thought he hadn’t run as fast as he could have. And he was right, running in three-hundredths of a second faster the second time around.
The reality is three-hundredths of a second here or there isn’t particularly important for Griffin, as far as NFL teams will be concerned. Everyone knows he’s an elite talent and perhaps the best athlete ever to play the quarterback position. All he did today was confirm that.