The former sprinters have doubled down on their criticism of the Miami Dolphins wide receiver who has been trash talking Olympics champion Noah Lyles.
American sprint legend Justin Gatlin and former Bahamas sprinter Rodney Green have maintained their onslaught on NFL star Tyreek Hill regarding his beef with Noah Lyles.
Olympic champion Lyles stoked up the fires last weekend when he held up a banner reading ‘Tyreek could never’ just after storming to victory in the 60m dash at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.
That was a message directed at Miami Dolphins wide receiver Hill, who discredited Lyles’ gold medal win in 100m at the Paris Olympics, while challenging him to a 60m dash.
Lyles initially dismissed him as an attention seeker but has since accepted the challenge although the NFL star is yet to make up his mind.
However, Gatlin, who won an Olympics gold and four world titles, feels Hill is playing with fire and is thrilled that Lyles fired back.
“People are going to talk trash but he is not going to back down, the boy came across that line in that finals with a 6.52, strutted his stuff back down to the 60m finish line and then he looked around the crowd, grabbed the bib off his back and held it up,” Gatlin said on his Ready Set Go podcast which he co-hosts with Green.
“He could have let it die, he could be like; ‘Oh you know it’s a little trash talk here and there whatever, like that but he said; ‘look bro, you want this? Here it is, come and get it.’ You know what I am saying? You don’t respond. That lets me know right now you aren’t about that life.”
Green then weighed in, explaining why Hill has no chance against Lyles, while adding that he would need more than eight weeks of training.
“Tyreek is in town, Tyreek is right here in Orlando so if he wants all the smoke he could pull right up to the Adidas track on Monday and be like; ‘Yo, Noah what’s up and get his behind rolled. It is not that difficult big dawg but I get it, you know, you’re going to hear all the banter and he is not going to do too much,” Green said.
“But after him watching Noah these last two meets, he’s going to be like; ‘Man I probably need about eight weeks to train and you’re going to need more than eight weeks,” Green went on.
Surprised by Green’s verdict, Gatlin said: “You are in that man’s head already, talking about eight weeks to train.”
Green affirmed his statement, saying Hill should be watching and doing something about it if he is serious about racing Lyles.
“If he wasn’t watching, he watched today. Somebody sent that video to him today,” added Green.
It remains to be seen if Hill will take up the challenge as the logistics of such a race would be less tedious given both stars are based in Orlando, Florida.
