Breaking the record for the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL combine isn’t only about bragging rights. It might be about winning an entire island.
Adidas is offering an island to any prospect who breaks the 4.24-second time clocked at the combine by Chris Johnson in 2008, as long as he does it in the company’s 2017 Adizero 5-Star 40 cleats and agrees to endorse the company’s shoes for the entire 2017-18 season.
Adidas is offering an island to any prospect who breaks the 4.24-second time clocked at the combine by Chris Johnson in 2008. AP Photo/Michael Conroy
The fine print says that Adidas agrees to provide a winner with an island “as soon as reasonably possible” but that the company can also just pay the athlete $1 million instead. The company is not responsible for the payment of any taxes on the prize.
A search of private-island sale sites reveals many islands in Canada and Central America that can be bought for less than $1 million.
Eric Dickerson, who owns the NFL record for single-season rushing yards, joked that the potential award is much better than what he got when he went for 2,105 yards in 1984.
— Eric Dickerson (@EricDickerson) February 28, 2017
Over the years, Adidas has given endorsement deals or cash prizes of $100,000 to the prospects who have run the fastest time. It offered $1 million cash last year if someone could set a new mark.
Times are expected to be challenged at the NFL combine in Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday when the running backs and wide receivers go through the drills.
The New York Giants had a tool at their disposal to greatly increase their chances of keeping defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul for at least another season. They didn’t hesitate to utilize it Monday when they once again used the franchise tag on their 2010 first-round pick.
It was the second time in three years the Giants used that tag on Pierre-Paul. Both sides hope this time it works out better.
The franchise tag for a defensive end this year is worth 10.14 percent of the salary cap, according to a source. That comes out to a touch over $17 million, using an estimate of $168 million for the cap. With the Giants set to have just about $30 million under the salary cap entering the start of free agency next week, that’s 57 percent of their available funds this offseason now devoted toward Pierre-Paul, if he plays under the one-year contract available to a player with the franchise tag. Another 10 percent or so has to be allotted for draft picks.
Jason Pierre-Paul played this past season at a level that would have made him extremely rich if he had made it anywhere near the free-agent market. EPA/Larry W. Smith
This financial situation isn’t desirable for Pierre-Paul or the Giants. It’s not likely to ultimately play out this way, either. Both sides want to agree to terms on a long-term deal.
In fact, Pierre-Paul craves that long-term deal. He made it clear earlier this year he didn’t want to play on a third consecutive one-year contract. He has waited long enough for the long-term security that a player with his resume usually attains earlier in his career.
So far it hasn’t happen for Pierre-Paul for a variety of reasons, several of those self-inflicted. (See: July 4, 2015, fireworks accident.) But he returned and played this season at a level that would make him extremely marketable — and rich — if he made it anywhere near the free-agent market. The Giants are aware, and that is why they didn’t let it happen.
The Giants don’t want Pierre-Paul to count so much ($17 million) against this year’s salary cap. It could prevent them from making other moves, such as bringing back defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins or adding a veteran offensive lineman or playmaker.
The Giants have been intent on trying to keep their defense intact after seemingly building something special as this past season progressed. They allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL after rebuilding the defense last offseason through free agency. Pierre-Paul (7.0 sacks and eight batted passes in 12 games) was a significant part of that. So were Hankins and linebacker Keenan Robinson, both free agents.
The hope this offseason was to fix the fledgling offense. The Giants desperately struggled to score points this past season and need reinforcements for the offensive line and another playmaker.
That doesn’t come cheap in free agency. They know it. So do Pierre-Paul’s representatives, which puts them in an advantageous position. They have a valuable commodity that the Giants want to sign long term, and perhaps need to sign long term sooner rather than later. Free agency begins March 9, and the Giants would prefer to have all of their financials in order prior to the start of the frenzy.
That puts pressure on the team to get something done quickly. For Pierre-Paul, it doesn’t matter if he gets his deal now or sometime this summer, before the July 15 deadline to sign franchised players to long-term deals. All that matters to him is that he gets the long-term deal he feels he has earned.
DALLAS — After missing a court-ordered deadline, Johnny Manziel appeared before a judge Tuesday and promised to meet the stipulations required to get the troubled quarterback’s domestic violence case dismissed while saying his distrust of the NFL played a part in the delay.
The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner said he doesn’t want to disappoint Judge Roberto Canas, who warned that he or a jury could decide Manziel’s fate if the deal reached in November is revoked.
Manziel, 24, faced a misdemeanor charge that carried a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine after he was accused of hitting and threatening former girlfriend Colleen Crowley during a night out in January 2016. The judge said he called the hearing because Manziel missed a deadline for an update on the progress of meeting his conditions, including one that requires the former Cleveland Browns player to work through the NFL or another agency on a substance abuse program.
Asked by the judge to explain how things would be going forward, Manziel said he responded quickly when attorney Jim Darnell told him the judge wasn’t happy.
“Since that day everything’s been going extremely smoothly and my life is trending upward,” Manziel said in a 70-second statement. “I don’t even want to let this get anywhere near the rabbit hole that you were describing. I’m taking this responsibility. This is helping me get my life back together.”
Manziel said he was slow to get the process started in part because he was hesitant to work with the NFL. He said the involvement of the NFL Players Association, which administers the league’s drug program, also slowed the process.
The former Texas A&M star was suspended four games last season for a substance abuse violation even though he wasn’t under contract. The Browns released him last March, two years after drafting him in the first round. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the domestic case remains under review by the league.
“I don’t necessarily always believe in what the NFL does [or] have a lot of trust in them based on past situations, based on other players, how they got treated,” Manziel told the judge. “So I was very cautious in that regard. Having this being involved with them was kind of a slippery thing with me.”
After the hearing, Manziel responded to questions with brief answers as he was leaving the courthouse, saying he was “keeping all his options open” about a possible return to the NFL or another pro league. He said he was working out and hoped to be in an NFL training camp in July.
In his first meeting with Manziel since the agreement was reached, Canas had stern words for the quarterback, whose party-boy reputation hastened a quick demise in the NFL.
“I have gotten pretty good at being able to tell when a guy is serious about his dismissal contract and guys who are, `Eh, as soon as I walk out of court, forget that. I’ll do that when I want to or I’ll get around to it or when it’s convenient for me,”’ Canas said. “If there are any roots of that latter kind of message being planted in your brain, I want to dissuade you of that right now.”
Canas told Manziel he would probably get probation if the case went to trial, but that there would be “another dozen or so” conditions beyond the current stipulations.
Besides the substance abuse program requirement, Manziel has to stay out of trouble for a year along with completing an anger management program and attending a domestic violence impact panel. He is also required to stay away from his former girlfriend.
“Not everybody who comes through here gets this kind of opportunity because right now you are in charge of what happens to your case,” Canas said. “I would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity that you’ve got right before you.”
The allegations stem from a night out when Crowley said Manziel accosted her at a Dallas hotel, a confrontation that continued downstairs to the valet station. She said he forced her into a car and a valet disregarded her pleas for help. The two eventually drove to where her car was parked in front of a Dallas bar, she said in an affidavit. She said Manziel got into the driver’s seat and began to drive. Crowley said Manziel stopped when she tried to jump out of the car, but then he dragged her back inside and hit her.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs have long realized the special type of talent they have in safety Eric Berry. It’s why they selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft and why they kept him around last year as the franchise player after his rookie contract expired.
But the Chiefs saw things from Berry in 2016 they hadn’t seen before: The game-changing plays that made the difference in narrow victories and the iron will of his leadership. There was also a unanimous vote among his teammates naming him their most valuable player.
It all reinforced what the Chiefs believed about Berry and gave them the nudge this time around to give him the long-term contract that they wouldn’t hand him last year.
The Chiefs made Berry the highest-paid safety in the NFL by agreeing to terms with him on a six-year deal worth $78 million, including $40 million guaranteed and a $20 million signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“His outstanding play on the field was rivaled only by his inspirational leadership throughout the season. … He truly is an amazing leader,” chairman Clark Hunt said on Sunday in announcing Berry as the Chiefs’ MVP.
“All of his teammates and coaches benefit from having him part of the Kansas City Chiefs.”
The Chiefs are taking a risk with the length of the contract and the amount of money. Berry is 28 years old, so his age will become a factor before the contract is finished. He’s not that far removed from a bout with lymphoma, though Berry has been cancer-free and played two full seasons since his diagnosis and treatment.
There are risks with making him the franchise player but also with setting him free — and those risks are even greater. Berry had recently drawn the line at being the franchise player for a second straight year. He said he wouldn’t play again on the franchise tag and the Chiefs certainly could have tested whether he would stick to that.
If anything, Berry is a man of his word. It would have hurt him to sit out another season of football.
Letting him walk was the other option. But that would have been the toughest path of all. Berry is Kansas City’s most valuable player in more than just title. He has played five full seasons for the Chiefs and they’ve made the playoffs four times — one miss was in 2012, when Kansas City was a full-blown 2-14 mess.
They’re 0-for-2 in reaching the postseason when he’s missed all or part of the season. The only time the Chiefs have failed to reach the playoffs under coach Andy Reid came in 2014, when Berry missed part of the season because of an ankle injury and another part because of cancer.
In that light, the Chiefs perhaps opted for the least risky option. Sure, they’re counting on a lot from Berry but the one thing they should know about him by now is that he won’t let them down.
