philmophlegm | Broad Jump

How far do you think you could broad jump? To clarify, a broad jump is like a long jump, but you don't get a run-up - you have to do it from a standing start.

The broad jump is one of the tests used to see how athletic wannabe NFL players are at the annual Scouting Combine, which took place last weekend.

Now how far do you think elite athletes can broad jump? To give you some context, the best broad jump at the 2014 Scouting Combine, was 11 feet 0 inches, by Marquise Goodwin, a wide receiver from the University of Texas who would be drafted by the Buffalo Bills. Goodwin is a world-class long jumper, who made the Olympic Final in 2012, and was expected to win a medal. (He had a bad day and didn't. You may remember Great Britain's Greg Rutherford won the Gold.) The best ever broad jump at the Scouting Combine was 11 feet 7 inches in 2013.

So what do you think was the best broad jump at the 2015 Combine?

It was 12 feet 3 inches, by cornerback Byron Jones from the University of Connecticut. That's fifteen inches longer than an Olympic long jumper managed last year, and eight inches longer than the best ever at the Combine.

And since this is a proper athletic event (albeit a very obscure one*), there is a World Record. And that World Record is 12 feet 2 inches. Sadly, that world record still stands because the NFL Scouting Combine isn't a proper athletics event.

Amazing jump. See the video here.

* Except in Norway apparently, where it's apparently quite a thing.