You don’t want to be in the wall if McAfee ever takes up football
When this tweet popped up in our timeline, it sparked one heck of a debate in SportsJOE Towers. Could an NFL player really have the hardest, confirmed, soccer shot of all time?
Well, until we see otherwise, it seems it is true. Firstly, here is the tweet that sparked it all off.
“I have a radar gun, can I see how fast you can kick that soccer ball?” #124MPH #ImNotSureHowManyFolksCanDoThat pic.twitter.com/odN3G7fv1w
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 2, 2015
Okay, so if we accept this as the new benchmark, what does the internet have to say about actual soccer players shots?
The Guardian’s excellent Knowledge column addressed the issue back in 2007. Using data supplied by Sky, the hardest on their database was this off-the-bar effort by Sheffield Wednesday’s David Hirst against Arsenal in 1996, clocking in at 114mph.
That effort put Hirst miles ahead of the next best effort, a free kick by David Beckham against Chelsea in 1997 that was a measly 97.9mph.
Some other well known thronkers on the list include Alan Shearer’s bullet against Leicester in 1997 (Skip to 1.00 below) at 85.8mph…
And Obafemi Martins rasper against Spurs in 2007, clocked at 84mph
There are a few more contenders. This beaut by Steven Reid is alleged to have hit a top speed of 117mph…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4F9TQQeb2g
And this unverified effort from Sporting Lisbon’s Ronny Heberson is claimed to have hit 131mph.
Sadly, as it is unverified, the honour, for now, must go to McAfee.
We demand that football clubs around the world put speed guns in at training so we can finally wrest the honour back from the NFL.
