NFL star Tyreek Hill has taken a playful jab at world champion sprinter Noah Lyles after their much-hyped race was canceled.
Hill posted a meme on social media using the famous “Homer Simpson disappearing into a bush” image, except Homer’s face was replaced with a smiling photo of Lyles. The meme was captioned:
“@LylesNoah after seeing me run the 100m last weekend.”
The race between the two originally set for this weekend in New York’s Times Square was called off due to what Lyles described as “personal reasons.”
“We were deep into creating the event,” Noah Lyles said at the Stagwell Global Sport Beach event in Cannes, France. “It was supposed to happen this weekend. Unfortunately, there were some complications… personal reasons. But it was full-on. We were going to shut down Times Square and everything. It was going to be a lot of fun.”
Hill, who has long claimed he could outrun Lyles, had challenged the Olympic 100m champion to a 50-yard dash. The rivalry had picked up pace since last year’s Paris Olympics, where Lyles claimed gold in the 100 meters.
Earlier this year, after winning his fourth straight U.S. indoor 60m title, Lyles cheekily revealed a handwritten message on his bib that read:
“Tyreek Could Never.”
Hill returned the favor last week after clocking a personal-best 10.15 seconds in a 100m prelim in California. Holding up a sign of his own, Hill replied:
“Noah Could Never.”
Lyles admitted that many people, including potential sponsors, didn’t take the race plans seriously.
“A lot of people didn’t believe it was real. They thought it was just talk online,” he said.
