UAB wide receiver J.J. Nelson blazed the fastest 40 at the NFL combine, so how come he's not getting the $100,000 prize from Adidas?
Nelson is wondering the same thing, according to an ESPN report.
"I signed some waiver at some point, but I was never given a chance to sign an endorsement deal," Nelson said.
Nelson was the the only prospect at the 2015 combine who cracked the 4.30 mark in the 40 with an official time of 4.28 seconds, just .04 off of Chris Johnson's record, which was set in 2008.
Below, you can see Nelson's run on the left and Johnson's run on the right.
Nelson's official time of 4.28 is actually tied for the fourth-fastest time run at the combine since electronic timing began in 2000.
The good news for Nelson is that he's fast. The bad news is that being fast didn't earn him any money from Adidas like it did for three other players at the combine.
Trae Waynes, Phillip Dorsett and Kevin White each won $100,000 for their 40 times at the combine. Waynes, Dorsett and White ran the second, third and fourth fastest 40 times in Indianapolis. To win the money though, you had to be signed with Adidas before the combine and Nelson wasn't, so he won exactly zero dollars.
Adidas said it would pay the top three fastest players who ran the 40-yard dash in its shoes and signed a contract to endorse the brand before they ran $100,000.
Although, according to the ESPN report, Nelson chose to run in Adidas shoes but never got the chance to sign the contract.
When Nelson went to the player suite where he had a choice to run in the latest models form Nike, Under Armour and Adidas, he said he chose Adidas not only because the shoes were comfortable but because he was aware of the $100,000 prize.
"I wasn't completely focused on it at the time," Nelson told ESPN.com. "I was obviously focused on getting a good time first."
An Adidas news release said that the offer was "open to the athletes who sign with adidas prior to running their official 40 yard dashes later this month," but Nelson said he wasn't ever given a chance to sign with the brand.
