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How combine star J.J. Nelson's profile has grown after $100K Adidas fiasco

J.J. Nelson may have gotten screwed out of $100,000, but he could wind up with something even more valuable.

The speedy wide receiver out of UAB ran an NFL scouting combine-best 4.28 40-yard dash over the weekend, and he thought he earned a six-figure bonus from Adidas for doing so. The shoe company promised $100,000 for the fastest three times, and Nelson had the top performance.

Then the winners were named, and Nelson wasn't mentioned.

J.J. Nelson scores a TD against Arkansas. (USA TODAY Sports)
J.J. Nelson scores a TD against Arkansas. (USA TODAY Sports)

Adidas claimed Nelson didn't sign an endorsement deal with the shoemaker before running, so he didn't get the bonus.

Nelson, reached by phone on Wednesday, said he never got the chance. He said he signed a waiver and would have been happy to sign an endorsement, but he wasn't given one.

"They put out that I declined the offer," he said. "I was never given the offer to sign."

A direct message to Adidas spokesman Michael Ehrlich was not immediately returned.

The Bessemer, Ala., native has his own theory of what happened: "I guess they [Adidas] picked people who were high-profile – people who had a great chance of going out there and running a fast time. Me being an underrated guy was a big part of it."

(Trae Waynes (4.31), a cornerback out of Michigan State, receiver Phillip Dorsett (4.33) out of Miami, and wide receiver Kevin White (4.35) out of West Virginia each received the $100,000 bonus. They are all projected to go in the first or second round.)

Nelson has certainly been underrated. At 156 pounds, Nelson is the lightest combine participant in 13 years. He got only one scholarship offer from a Division I school. He took it and went in-state to UAB. Even there he was overlooked.

"We didn't get him the ball as much as we should have," said former wide receivers coach Cornelius Williams, who is now at Troy.

Williams said scouts didn't believe what they saw in Nelson. In fact, they didn't believe what Nelson himself saw. He said they would watch the way the receiver sometimes double-clutched when he caught passes and asked if he needed his eyes checked.

"He listened and he took it personal," Williams said. "At the combine, he was snagging everything. He was as smooth as I've ever seen him look."

Nelson's speed was no fluke: He said he timed himself at 4.28 before the combine (running in Nikes) and went to Indianapolis hoping to break the all-time record of 4.24.

His speed in Indianapolis, combined with the ensuing controversy, has made him somewhat of a cause celebre: the little engine that couldn't get paid.

Roddy White has become a star with the Falcons. (AP)
Roddy White has become a star with the Falcons. (AP)

Adding to the fuel is his loyalty to UAB, which had its football program cut late last year. Nelson was the first Blazer to be named All-American since Roddy White.

"I'm very motivated," he said "I might be the last to make the NFL."

Nelson even said he hopes his own career will help the cause for restoring the program someday.

The attention he's received is certainly good attention, as his school ties and his shoe issue have brought the kind of attention money can't buy. There's no fixing his weight, but there will be more eyes on his draft candidacy than there would have been before all this.

"The question will always be his size," Williams said. "But I played against T.Y. Hilton, and he and J.J. are very similar. They can score at any point in the game."

Even if he doesn't get a shot in the NFL, Nelson said he's considered trying out for the Olympics. He said he ran a 10.4 in the 100 as a high school senior.

"I have a lot of interest in that," he said. "Whatever happens with football, I was considering running in the Olympics."

The next step is his pro day at Samford University on March 10, which he hopes will earn him a better shot at getting drafted.

And as for right now, he's planning to wear Nikes.