EDMONTON – There is an old saying in football that speed kill, and there may be no player with more speed than Javon Leake.
At the 11:08 mark of the fourth quarter of the Elks 42-31 victory in Saskatchewan, Leake sliced his way to the second level of the Riders defence and out ran the anyone wearing Green for the 51-yard touchdown scamper.
No one could catch him. Literally, no one.
Leake’s top speed was recorded at 35.8 KM/H (or 22.5 MPH for the American equivalent) by TSN’s data enhanced feed, a speed in which no ball carrier in pro football has topped in the last year.
Now that’s what you call elite speed!
Javon Leake reaches 35.8 KM/H on his second TD of the game!
Catch the New Data Enhanced Feed 📲 Exclusively on TSN+ pic.twitter.com/VjOWiXYcj2
— CFL (@CFL) August 4, 2024
The man referred to as ‘Cheetah’ and recently voted the National Football League’s #1 player by his peers in Tyreek Hill? Nope, his top recorded speed last season was 22.01 MPH. Canadian Chase Brown notched the second-fastest NFL recorded speed at 22.05 MPH on his 54-yard touchdown reception in Week 14. Even All-pro receiver D.K. Metcalf couldn’t top the pace Leake exhibited on Saturday night at Mosiac Stadium, with the American game’s best mark at 22.23 MPH.
This is 22.25 mph, which is faster than any NFL ball-carrier ran last season. Only D.K. Metcalf, Canadian Chase Brown, and Tyreek Hill surpassed 22 mph in 2023 with Metcalf leading the way at 22.23 mph. #CFL https://t.co/2xU9lN9xSN
— Ben Grant (@Ben__Grant) August 4, 2024
The Elks explosive kick returner gashed his way through CFL special teams units in 2023 as a member of the Toronto Argonauts, racking up 2,009 return yards and four touchdowns en route to being named Canadian Football’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. Signed by Edmonton in CFL Free Agency with the expectations to juice up the team’s return game, Leake knew when he joined the Green and Gold that a chance to be more involved in the offence was up for grabs.
“My original position is running back, so I can’t wait to see what the guys got planned for me and just being able to try to get me in the offense,” Leake said in an interview on Feb. 13 after he originally signed with the Elks. “I’m excited for that.”
With an injury to Edmonton’s bell cow running back Kevin Brown, Leake was given that opportunity to show what he can bring on offence and he certainly did not disappoint.
Javon Leake (#22) celebrates after scoring his second touchdown of the game against the Roughriders
Leake blitzed his way to a 247 all-purpose yard performance, with 169 of those yards coming on only 12 carries. In the 26-year-old’s superstar performance, he torched the Riders defence for three touchdowns — including runs of 61 yards, and his speed record setting 51-yard score.
“Against these guys, we ran the ball good last year, so that was just our mindset coming in,” Leake said post-game. “Try to run the rock again like we did and it worked out pretty well. We were just hitting on all cylinders on offense, especially in the running game. So I was just trusting them guys and they trusted me.”