The40-yard dash is asprint covering 40 yards (36.576 m). It is primarily run to evaluate thespeed and acceleration ofAmerican football players byscouts, particularly for theNFL draft but also forcollegiaterecruiting. A player's recorded time can have a heavy impact on his prospects in college or professional football. This was traditionally only true for the "skill" positions such asrunning back,wide receiver, anddefensive back, although now a fast 40-yard dash time is considered important for almost every position. The 40-yard dash is not an official race intrack and field athletics, and is not anIAAF-recognized race.

The origin of timing football players for 40 yards comes from the average distance of apunt and the time it takes to reach that distance.^[1] Punts average around 40 yards in distance from theline of scrimmage, and the hangtime (time of flight) averages approximately 4.5 seconds; therefore, if a player can run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds, he will be able to leave the line of scrimmage when a punt is kicked, and reach the point where the ball comes down just as it arrives.

In terms of judging a person's speed, the best method of timing is through lasers which start and stop the times when passed through. A laser start (from a stationary position) is more accurate for measuring pure speed as it does not register a runner's reaction time, however, this method of timing a 40-yard dash can affect the accuracy by as much as 0.5 seconds with the manualstopwatch method.

TheNational Football League (NFL) did not begin using partial electronic timing (i.e. started by hand, stopped electronically) at theNFL Scouting Combine until 1999.^[2][3] For purposes of measurement at the Combine, the run is made along the sideline from the front of theend zone to the 40-yard line, and for electronically timed 40-yard dashes, the runner is allowed to start when they wish, and a timer hand-starts the clock.

In contrast,track and field races have the runnerreact to astarting gun, which takes approximately 0.24 second (based onFAT timing); further to this, IAAF rules state any runner with a reaction time of less than 0.1 second is subject to disqualification.

This aspect means that comparisons with track times are essentially impossible given that a reaction time is not factored in, and the use of hand-timing in the 40-yard dash can considerably alter a runner's time: the methods are not comparable to the rigorous electronic timing used in track and field.^[4]

For example,Jacoby Ford, who ran 4.28 seconds in the 2010 NFL Combine, had a collegiate best of 6.51 s in the60-meter dash (outside the top-40 of the all-time lists).^[4]

Though not a current event, the 40-yard dash was briefly contested at theUSA Indoor Track and Field Championships for women in1927,1928,1929,1930,1931, and1932. It was never staged as a men's event. The fastest winning time, including reaction, was 5.2 (originally recorded as 51⁄5) seconds, first set byRosa Grosse and later tied byMary Carew twice.^[5]

In most settings, the 40-yard dash is conducted withoutfully automatic timing, where lasers are used at both the beginning and end of the race.^[6] Instead, the 40-yard dash is most often hand-timed, leading to considerable measurement error. Many (in particular older) reports of times below 4.2 or 4.3 are considered suspect, such as Baylor'sGerald McNeil's 4.19-second 40-yard dash in the 1980s before being signed to theUnited States Football League (USFL),^[7] orDeion Sanders' 4.27-second 40-yard dash in 1989.^[8] More recent examples include rugby union'sCarlin Isles time of 4.22 at a Detroit Lions facility during a 2013 workout,^[9] and Texas Tech'sJakeem Grant being hand-timed by aNew Orleans Saints scout at 4.1 in 2016.^[10]

Also unofficially,Bo Jackson, who was invited to the 1986 combine and declined, ran the 40 to show off for scouts inAuburn. Electronically, with a laser, he has said it measured 4.12, and by hand it was 4.16. "I got down there, and I took off and ran completely through. I just kept going right out the door and didn’t come back." he was quoted after.^[11]

In 2017,Olympic sprinterChristian Coleman ran a time of 4.12 seconds on turf in response to claims that NFL players are as fast asUsain Bolt.^[12] In 2024,University of Iowa sprinter Kalen Walker ran a 4.15 on turf during the halftime of aHawkeyes football game.^[13] A year and a half after he retired from active competition, Usain Bolt ran a 4.22 in flat-soled shoes and atracksuit at a promotional event for the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia on February 2, 2019.^[14]

This is a list of the official 40-yard dash results of under 4.31 seconds recorded at the NFL Scouting combine since 1999, the first year electronic timing was implemented at the NFL Scouting Combine.^[15][16]

According to a five-year NFL combine report,wide receivers andcornerbacks had the fastest average times at 4.48, followed byrunning backs at 4.49. The following average times were measured between 2000 and 2012 at the NFL combine for players who played at least 5 games.^[23]

• NFL draft
• Sprint running disciplines
• Events in track and field

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