The NFL Combine began electronic timing of forty yard dash times in 1999. This means that any time after 1998 can be considered “official” as the time was gathered through electronic means removing any possible human error. Times gathered before 1999 can be considered “unofficial” in that the humans are unable to consistently gather completely accurate times.
Reported NFL Combine times also vary by scout. The reason for this is that the athlete runs several trials of the 40 yard dash, and there are several different methods of condensing a series of 40 yard dash times down to one officially reported 40 yard dash time.
Best NFL Combine Forty Yard Dash Times
- 4.21 – Trindon Holliday (2010)
- 4.22 – Jacoby Ford (2010)
- 4.24 – Chris Johnson (2008)
- 4.24 – Rondel Menendez (1999)
- 4.25 – Demarcus Van Dyke (2011)
- 4.25 – Darius Heyward-Bay (2009)
- 4.26 – Jerome Mathis (2005)
- 4.27 – C.J. Spiller (2010)
- 4.27 – Stanford Routt (2005)
- 4.28 – Mike Wallace (2009)
- 4.28 – Champ Bailey (1999)
- 4.29 – Johnny Knox (2009)
- 4.29 – Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (2008)
- 4.29 – Fabian Washington (2005)
- 4.29 – Jay Hinton (1999)
The best hand-recorded times cannot be trusted, and many can see why as some of the times are far lower than any reported time from the electronic timing era. This likely means that human error helped make the following fast times even faster.
Other NFL Forty Yard Dash Times of Note (Unofficial – may not be at Combine)
- 4.12 – Bo Jackson (1986)
- 4.42 – Alexander Wright (1990) (Updated)
- 4.15 – Darrell Green (1983)
- 4.18 – Joey Galloway (1995)
- 4.29 – Deion Sanders (1989) (Updated)
- 4.42 – Don Beebe ( 1989) (Updated)
- 4.38 – Randy Moss (1998) (Updated)
- 4.28 – Michael Vick (2001)