The football world was recently shaken after watching Tyreek Hill run a 100m dash. We all know the Dolphins’ wideout is fast on the grass—hence his nickname, “The Cheetah.” But his speed translates just as well to the synthetic polyurethane of a track, too, as he dazzled us all with a blazing time comparable to Olympic medalists.
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Hill’s track skills date back to his college days at Oklahoma State, where he was a standout sprinter with a personal best of 10.19 seconds in the 100m dash. Well, in his first official meet since then, Hill crushed that mark, clocking in at 10.15 seconds.
The video of the sprint went viral and shook the NFL world to its core. Veterans couldn’t believe how fast Hill looked in comparison to other track athletes. Emmanuel Acho even said that this run dealt a major blow to the track world.
“The ‘Track Speed > Football Speed’ debate took a hit today,” Acho tweeted before continuing.
“Here’s how Cheetah’s 10.15 compares to other notables most recent race: [Letsile] Tobogo (200m ’25): 10.43 [Christian] Coleman (100m ‘19): 10.12 [Fred] Kerley (100m ‘25): 10.06 With legit training… Hill could compete at the highest level.”
Track speed vs. football speed is an age-old debate that’s highly nuanced with no clear answer. After all, track athletes sprint in straight lines with nobody trying to tackle them, while football players often make sudden cuts and jukes before hitting open field and turning on the burners. Ultimately, they’re completely different styles of running.
But this time, Hill seemed to register a point for the side of football speed, at least as being comparable to track speed. And Acho made sure everyone took notice.
The “Track Speed > Football Speed” debate took a hit today.
Here’s how @cheetah’s 10.15 compares to other notables most recent race:
Tobogo (200m’25): 10.43
Coleman (100m‘19): 10.12
Kerley (100m‘25): 10.06
With legit training, Hill could compete at the highest level. https://t.co/0ApM5re8AE
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) June 14, 2025
However, it’s a bit unfair that Hill used to run track growing up. Also, it’s not like a randomly fast NFL player was caught doing this, like DK Metcalf. This was one of the most consistently rated fastest players in the league. He’s not called “The Cheetah” for nothing.
When fans reacted to the post, they were definitely impressed, but not exactly shocked. After all, this is the fastest guy in the NFL. A time like that? Kinda expected.
“One football player with track speed doesn’t flip the whole debate. Come on,” one argued. “Using a top 5 fastest football player of all time who indeed did run track is not it acho,” another wrote.
Others pointed out the fact that 10.15 isn’t even that fast when compared to high school sprinters and Olympians.
“There’s a highschooler in Idaho that runs 10.15,” a user commented.
Around 50th in NCAA all marks. Still impressive but anyone can nitpick. pic.twitter.com/wVx86dhRO6
— Ben Aris (@benaris45) June 14, 2025
“Dude. 10.15 is light years away from 9.8 or 9.9. Could he maybe get there? Possibly. But let’s not act like he’s anywhere close to guys like Lyles, Tebogo, Coleman and Kerley,” someone else penned.
It may not sound like a lot, but shaving off 0.15 seconds in a 100m dash is incredibly hard to do. Some older Olympians were eventually caught using performance-enhancing drugs to hit those times. But thanks to advanced medicine and legal supplements, modern sprinters can get close to a legit 9.8-second dash. It’s just natural evolution.
All in all, it’s super cool to see Hill staying in shape and putting his speed to good use in the offseason. But for Acho to say the football vs. track speed debate took a hit feels like a bit of an overreaction. Maybe with proper training, Hill could’ve been a world-class sprinter—but we’ll never know. It’s fun to imagine, though.
