While a date, location and length have yet to be determined, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and American track and field star Noah Lyles are set to race one another.
Lyles hinted that he’s not going to hold back on Hill in the race or take the matchup lightly.
“I’m not here to play around,” Lyles told NBC News. “I’m dead serious about this. I’m going to bring everything I got for this.”
Allegedly, Hill and Lyles hadn’t spoken to one another until following the Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. That event took place earlier this month, and Lyles ended up winning the 60-meter race. After his victory, he took a dig at Hill when he held up a sign that read, “Tyreek could never.”
Lyles revealed to NBC News that during brief phone conversations with Hill, he told the star receiver that he isn’t talking trash merely for fun.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m just out here joking,” Lyles said of his message to Hill. “Let me be confident saying this. I’m your guy. I’m your guy who’s gonna to let you swing, but best believe I will dodge and you will get hit with an uppercut.”
According to Lyles, plenty of folks have questioned him for being willing to race Hill, but he thinks that facing off against the 30-year-old could help grow public interest in his sport.
“I get a lot of hate from people who don’t believe that I should be racing him,” he said. “And they’re like, ‘This is beneath you.’ Well, apparently it’s not, because here we are.”
Finally, he doesn’t seem to be at all nervous about his race versus Hill.
“I’m more thinking about, ‘Dang, I have an opportunity to break the world record along with beating Tyreek,’” Lyles said. “So Tyreek better be ready, because if a world record gets dropped on his head, he ain’t gonna be able to hear nothing.”
The summer is said to be likely for timing. Lyles will be preparing for the U.S. championships around that time while Hill will be getting ready for the 2025 NFL season.
Hill has had a reputation for being one of the fastest players in the NFL for practically as long as he’s been in the league. During a kick return as a rookie back in the 2016 season, he reached a top speed of 23.24 miles per hour.
Lyles is quite the accomplished runner himself, though in a different way. He has won three Olympic medals — one gold and two bronze — and his first stint in the Olympics came back several years back in Tokyo.
Hopefully, details of the race between two speedsters will be revealed in the near future. Dolphins fans especially should make sure to tune into the race and find out once and for all who takes home the crown.
