Billy Hamilton Wants to Race NFL 40-Yard Dash Record Holder John Ross

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton told reporters Thursday he wants to challenge Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick and NFL combine 40-yard dash record holder John Ross to a race now that the two share a zip code. 

"It's something I look forward to. I'm a competitor, if something happens with him, it happens," Hamilton said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans. "We'll do it for a charity event. I'm willing to do it.

"I think we could do 40 and I think it'd be a good race for the city and for me and him to get our names out there. It's something we could look forward to looking into, our agents (could talk) and see how it goes."

Selected ninth overall in last week's draft, Ross turned heads when he broke Chris Johnson's 40-yard dash record with a verified mark of 4.22 on the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis: 

Hamilton, though, would seem to have a decent shot at keeping up with Ross in a short sprint. 

Widely considered one of the fastest players in baseball, Hamilton has topped 56 steals each of the past three seasons. He's also currently leading the majors with 16 swipes after he completed another successful steal during Thursday's 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

That steal represented the 200th of Hamilton's career, and it officially made him the fastest in franchise history to reach that milestone.