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Mavs' Nowitzki wonders if he could beat Broncos' Manning in foot race

Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Who's faster: A 37-year-old, 7-foot NBA power forward, or a notoriously slow-footed, 39-year-old NFL quarterback?

That's apparently a question Dirk Nowitzki wants an answer to. The German sharpshooter tweeted Thursday night that he and his Dallas Mavericks teammates have been debating whether or not he could beat Denver Broncos signal-caller Peyton Manning in a 40-yard dash.

There's a lot to unpack here.

The answer should be Nowitzki, despite the extra 15 pounds he's carrying. Manning moves, at most, in short bursts, and Nowitzki's job description entails far more moderate-distance running.

Even jogging 3-point line to 3-point line is more cardio than Manning is required to do, as the 14-time Pro Bowler has rushed for just 669 yards in his career. He's actually rushed for a loss of 59 yards over the last three seasons, and while that isn't to say that Manning isn't in phenomenal shape, Nowitzki's job function just lends itself more to 120-foot treks.

To wit, the approximate maximum in-game sprints for each player are shown below:

Maybe Manning is faster than his style of play lets on, but until we've seen it from him, the edge has to go to Nowitzki.

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