Bengals first-rounder says he could beat Usain Bolt in a race, but there's a catch

The man with the fastest 40 time says he could beat the fastest man in the world in a race

If you watched the NFL combine, then you know that former Washington receiver John Ross is fast. 

Back in February, Ross ran the 40 in 4.22 seconds, a blazing fast time that currently stands as the fastest recorded 40 in combine history. 

Ross was already projected to be a first-round pick before he broke the combine record, but after it happened, his stock went way up with at least one team: the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals liked Ross so much that they made him the ninth overall pick during the first round of the NFL Draft on April 27. 

Not only are the Bengals getting a player who can outrun most defensive backs in the league, but they're also getting a receiver who is clearly pretty confident in his speed. 

As a matter of fact, Ross is so confident that he thinks he could beat Usain Bolt in a race. However, there is one catch: The race would only cover 40 yards. instead of 100 meters, which is Bolt's specialty. 

"In a 40-yard dash, I think I could get Usain Bolt," Ross said recently, via NFL.com. 

Ross then threw out a direct challenge to the Jamaican sprinter, who holds the world record of 9.58 seconds in the 100m. 

"Usain Bolt, I know I could get you in the 40, whenever you want to meet me up, we can do it," Ross said. 

For the record, Ross doesn't think he'll dominate the race, but he does absolutely think that he would win. 

"I have faster foot contact than [Bolt], but he has longer strides. I think it will definitely be a good race," Ross said. 

If you're wondering, Bolt's 9.58 time in the 100m would translate to a 40 time of about 3.71 seconds, although you can't directly look at it like that because Bolt was running on a track surface with track spikes and use a starting block. 

Anyway, before Ross races Bolt, he might want to make sure he can actually beat everyone in America, because there's no guarantee that he could even do that. 

Tennessee sprinter Christian Coleman is a good example of why Ross would probably lose to Bolt. Coleman, who was a member of the United States 4x100 team at the Rio Olympics, went out and ran a 40 recently, and let's just say it was fast. 

A lot of talk about 40-yard dashes this weekend, so we asked the fastest man in the NCAA @__coleman to run one. pic.twitter.com/CpgWYvqnCI

— UT Track & Field/XC (@Vol_Track) May 1, 2017

If you decided not to watch the video, then I'll just spoil it for you: Coleman ran a 4.12, which is a full tenth of a second faster than Ross' time. 

That 4.12 40 by the Tennessee track star probably isn't a fluke, either: Back in March, Coleman won both the 60m and 200m races at the NCAA indoor track championships. 

The moral of the story here is that there's a good chance no one in the NFL could beat Bolt in a race from any distance, including Falcons receiver Tyler Gabriel, who said in March that he could beat the sprinter in a 30-yard race. 

Maybe Gabriel and Ross can race, and then the winner can face Coleman, and then the winner of that can face Bolt. Someone needs to organize this right away.