In the 2017 NFL Combine, former Washington wide receiver, John Ross may have broken the 40-yard dash record but he missed out on a million-dollar island. Apart from Ross’s exceptional speed on the field, a pair of Nike cleats turned the record-breaking moment into a tale worth telling.

Talking about Ross’ performance and his twist of fate that happened in 2017 brings us to the present. Texas wideout, Xavier Worthy just broke the former Washington player’s record by as close as 0.01 seconds. Like Ross, he too had turned down a good deal that could have been in his favor. 

John Ross’ twist of fate 

Back in 2017, Ross shattered the previous record amounting to 4.24 seconds that was previously set by Chris Johnson in 2008. The Washington player triumphed in amassing two milliseconds by astonishingly finishing the feat within 4.22. However, it was then a twist in the tale transpired as Ross was wearing Nike shoes, instead of the specified Adidas footwear mentioned in the fine print of his NIL deal. 

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Adidas had crafted a unique marketing strategy promising the prospect an island worth $1 million if he broke the 40-yard dash record clad in their 2017 Adizero 5-Star 40 cleats. Unfortunately, Ross chose to wear Nike’s Vapor 4.2 cleats which robbed him of the opportunity. Reiterating his experience, he added humor to the situation by sarcastically claiming, “Well, I can’t swim that well, and I don’t have a boat”. Recently, the 2017 draft prospect once again made his way to the headline with Texas’ Worthy.

Widely regarded as the fastest receiver in this year’s draft class, the Longhorns player lived up to the hype during the 40-yard dash on Saturday, March 2. On his first attempt, Worthy clocked in at a blazing 4.25 seconds, confirming his status as a top-tier speedster. However, his thirst to be better was still not quenched and on his second attempt, he shattered the existing record set by Ross without knowing that he shared a similar experience in terms of an NIL deal. 

Worthy walking Ross’ path 

Initially, the unofficial time was reported to be 4.22 seconds but an official review by combine officials barged in that led to minor adjustments with the final result being 4.21 seconds. As per the reports, Worthy received a substantial seven-figure NIL deal from another Power 5 school that offered Worthy to enter the transfer portal and join their program. However, it was then the player emerged victorious in the test of loyalty by declining the lucrative offer and choosing to remain true to his Texas roots. 

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Even though later on Ross signed a deal with Nike that turned the focus by making the Vapor 4.2 cleats a natural choice for him during the combine. Now it is to be seen, how Worthy moves forward balancing his loyalty and his collegiate experience interrupted by potentially higher financial gains. 

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