After getting jobbed in his 40-yard dash at the 2010 Scouting Combine, former USC safety Taylor Mays is making the rounds to talk about the situation.
Appearing on Sirius NFL Radio on Wednesday night with Bryan McGovern and Jim Miller, Mays said he was clocked by scouts at anywhere from 4.32 seconds to 4.19 seconds.
His official time? 4.43 seconds.
“It was a little disappointing because I didn’t understand it but I also didn’t believe it,” Mays said of the official time. “I don’t think that’s the right time. I don’t spend too much [time] worrying about it because I don’t think that’s correct.”
Appearing Thursday on ESPN2’s First Take, Mays expressed confusion about the increase in the unofficial time of 4.24 to 4.43. He said he has been electronically timed in the 4.2-second range while working out at USC.
Then there’s the brilliant NFL Network video of Taylor Mays finishing in front of either Trinton Holliday (who ran a 4.34 officially) or Jahvid Best (whose time was 4.35 seconds).
So as we begin to focus on free agency, let’s not forget that the NFL needs to fix an obviously broken system for timing players whose earning potential is tied to these numbers.