Bolt's Agent Says CJ Race Is Not Happening, Wants Retraction From ESPN

Monday, January 04, 2010


An interesting story was dropped by ESPN's Adam Schefter this morning, which stated that a race between the Titans' Chris Johnson and Usain Bolt was in the making. According to him, the only hangup was the distance of said race. Well apparently that's not the only hangup....the story doesn't appear to be true and Bolt's agent wants a retraction. From SbB via Universal Sports....

Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, says there is “no truth” to a report by ESPN football analyst Adam Schefter that the Jamaican sprint sensation is trying to set up a race against Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson to determine who is really the world’s fastest human

“There is no truth to the story and I have contacted ESPN in an effort to get them to take the story down because we don’t want this to spread like wildfire,” Simms said in a phone interview with Universal Sports. “Usain doesn’t follow the NFL too closely and is not really familiar with all of the players. He likes (international) football and cricket. But more importantly, he has a schedule and a coach to follow and there is no chance that we would set up this type of event.”
Events of this nature rarely ever actually go down, so I was skeptical when first reading it, but apparently there's no truth to it all. I don't think Schefter made up the story, but just got caught up in a rumor. There has been no retraction by ESPN, and the item is still being talked about on Sports Center.

Sources: Johnson vs. Bolt race planned (ESPN)
Bolt will not race NFL's Johnson (Universal Sports)
Bolt Rep Wants Untrue ESPN Claim ‘Taken Down’ (Sports by Brooks)

Posted by Awful Announcing at 3:10 PM

3 Comments:

Looks like Mort's a bad influence on Adam in terms of nailing down a story, huh?

bceagle91 said...
Jan 4, 2010, 3:43:00 PM  

first Rondo/Johnson.
now Bolt/Johnson.

how 'bout Dick Bivetta/Johnson? I'm sure Johnson would love a kiss on the lips.

dcs said...
Jan 4, 2010, 7:22:00 PM  

If Simms really wanted to prove he was faster than Bolt, he could simply qualify and compete in any of a number of international track events. Bolt doesn't have to agree to a gimmick event.

Then again, the more stringent drug testing in international track might be a concern for an NFL player...

Michael said...
Jan 4, 2010, 9:10:00 PM  

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