Thursday, July 25, 2013

NFL speedsters Johnson, Hester to race Cheetah on TV

Cheetah
NFLers are set to go toe-to-toe with one of the planet's fastest animals in front of a TV audience. (AFP)

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Speedy NFL stars Chris Johnson and Devin Hester - and one big game cat - are going to run like their species depends on it to kick-off Nat Geo Wild?s Big Cat Week.

Betty White will also be joining the team in a different special, the network told TheWrap exclusively.

The aforementioned experiment of speed and agility will be the subject of the Big Cat Week kickoff special, ?Man vs. Cheetah,? which airs this November on Nat Geo Wild. This is the network?s fourth annual Big Cat Week, its highest-rated week.

?This is most incredible challenge I?ve ever faced,? said Johnson, running back for the Tennessee Titans. ?I wanted to go up against the fastest in the world and test myself, and this was it!?

Johnson is officially the fastest active player in the NFL, running the 40-yard dash in 4.24 seconds. The three-time Pro Bowler has also won the NFL?s rushing title and Offensive Player of the Year. Johnson has one of the highest vertical leaps and longest broad jumps of any athlete in the NFL. He?ll need all of that against the cheetah.

?Man vs. Cheetah? will be hosted by naturalist and host of America the Wild, Casey Anderson, along with wildlife biologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Luke Dollar.

?We loved the idea of a face-off like no other between supreme athletes and an alpha predator,? said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president and general manager of Nat Geo Wild. ?This isn?t sports, it?s amazing science. ... And we are thrilled that Johnson and Hester - two record-setting NFL pros - are helping to kick off this unprecedented experiment during our network?s biggest week of the year.?

?Man vs. Cheetah? will not only look at how the cheetah?s speed, maneuverability and instinct all come together, but it will reveal the key advantages and the vulnerabilities of the contestants. The special addresses whether cheetahs have hidden weaknesses despite their all-out running power, and whether comparing them to humans might reveal new information about cheetahs? potential for survival in the wild. The margin between cheetah speed and human ability is shown to be razor-thin, with factors like agility, endurance and the human ability to strategize and adapt leveling the playing field.

?The whole idea of racing next to a cheetah for Nat Geo Wild was a very unusual proposition,? said Hester of the Chicago Bears. ?But it was something I was ready to take on to see if I could get an edge on.?

Hester holds the all-time record for the most kicks and punts returned for touchdowns, and he?s a four-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler. In the program, Hester demonstrates his ability to stop and maneuver in Man vs. Cheetah by running four lengths down and back, in a test designed to reveal significant weaknesses in cheetah evolution and physiology.


CHECK OUT PREVIOUS MAN-ANIMAL COMPETITIONS


Kobayashi vs Giant Bear

Elephant vs. Little People

Gymnast vs Orangutan

Sumo vs. Monkey

Chimp vs. Navy Seal

What man-animal competition do you want to see?

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/07/24/nfl-speedsters-johnson-hester-to-race-cheetah-on-tv

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