Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world with nine career Olympic gold medals, but he previously declined the opportunity to add NFL wide receiver to his long list of accomplishments.
During an interview this week on the Dan Patrick Show, Bolt said NFL teams have contacted him about possibly playing wide receiver but he declined the offers.
"I've never really thought about going," Bolt said, "but I've gotten offers and people have asked me."
Bolt did not specify which NFL teams made contact with him about playing in the league. He did say one element of the sport he doesn't like is the hard hits players take.
"I used to watch [football] when I was younger, and the hits that the guys used to take. I know that it is not as bad now, but the hits that the guys would take kind of turned me off," Bolt said.
There is some precedent for an Olympic champion at least getting a tryout in the NFL. American Justin Gatlin took part in rookie minicamp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007.
In July, Gatlin told The Associated Press that his NFL experience was "so tough."
"I would say that how track and field is built without a union and it's a dog-eat-dog world," Gatlin said. "That's how it is to get into football. It's the same thing: a dog-eat-dog world. I respect all those athletes who are trying to try out for teams."
Never happened
Prior to playing the New England Patriots on Thursday, the Houston Texans were somewhat confident. After all, the team posted a poll on Twitter assuming they would score multiple touchdowns.
The poll asked:
How will the first Texans touchdown be scored tonight?
• Rushing
• Receiving
• Defense
• Special teams
Needless to say none of the above happened as the Patriots soundly defeated the Texans 27-0, and the team's poll question was quickly removed afterward.
Time to strut
Davis Love III said his U.S. Ryder Cup team of 11 -- soon to be 12 -- might be the best ever assembled.
Love joined Matt Adams' Fairways of Life podcast Friday and was discussing the confidence his team needs to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008.
"We don't have to do anything superhuman, we're a great golf team," Love said. "This is the best golf team, maybe, ever assembled."
The team captain said past teams have played "not to lose, rather than to win," and that panic would set in early in the matches if things didn't go well. To reverse that, Love said, U.S. players needed to display some bravado.
"You need to stand up there, smash it down the middle and take off walking," he said, "and let the other team know we are going to dominate you."
Love added that the vice captains Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods checked in with each other Thursday evening and that Woods was a little late to join because of attending soccer practice for one of his children.
The Ryder Cup begins Friday at Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Sports on 09/24/2016