When he went to check his measurements on the Canadian Football League website, Les Maruo saw a 40-yard dash time of 4.77 seconds — a number the linebacker was completely unfamiliar with.
“It was weird because on my virtual combine, I got 4.62,” Maruo told The Japan Times in an online interview from San Antonio, Texas, where he has been training, earlier this month. “I don’t really know how they did the timing. I’m not really sure why it was 4.77.”
Despite the strange time, Maruo was selected fourth overall by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — the highest of any of the six Japanese players taken — in April’s Canadian Football League global draft.