His Delivery Needs to Be Faster for NFL

Jimmy Johnson was heading out for a jog at the Miami Dolphins’ complex when the driver of a delivery truck approached him to seek a tryout as a tight end.

When the Dolphin coach asked what kind of speed he had, the driver replied, “4.29 [seconds] last year.”

Said Johnson: “4.29? I’ll give you $100 out of my pocket if you can run 4.4.”

After the driver changed into workout clothes, Johnson and an aide timed him in the 40-yard dash.

“With the wind, he ran a 4.71,” Johnson said. “So I kept my $100, and he kept his delivery job.”

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Trivia time: Which NBA team played in the most playoff games in a season?

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Snubbed: Len Dykstra of the Philadelphia Phillies was disappointed to be ranked No. 6 on the 10-worst-bad-guys list in the Sports Illustrated Presents baseball guide.

“If I’m gonna be on the list,” he quipped, “I want to be a lot higher up.”

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Conforming: Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, who is favored to win gold medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, earns about $500,000 a year and has a Mercedes-Benz that he doesn’t drive.

He keeps it at a car dealership.

“You must do as your people do,” he told the New York Times. “If my people are poor, I must be poor.”

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Early bird wins: According to Golf Digest, the notion that the Masters doesn’t really start until the back nine Sunday doesn’t jibe with the facts.

The magazine charted the last 26 Masters and revealed that “only six times since 1970 has the leader on the 10th tee not ended up wearing the green jacket that evening.”

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Who says so? Shaquille O’Neal of the Orlando Magic in USA Today referring to himself and teammate Anfernee Hardaway:

“We’re the Kareem and Magic of of the late ‘90s. I just hope we can win as many championships as they did.”

The Laker pair won five NBA titles as teammates. Shaq and Penny are looking for their first.

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Horse play: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Colts’ great Johnny Unitas said he didn’t like the new Baltimore team’s nickname, Ravens, because it had nothing to do with football.

“George Hammons of Manteca [Calif.] wonders: ‘When was the last time Unitas saw a horse throw a pass?’ ”

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Proud father: Baltimore Oriole pitcher David Wells, on why he has a tattoo of his son Brandon on his right arm: “I got tired of pulling out my wallet and showing everyone pictures.”

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Opinion: Edwin Pope in the Miami Herald: “Generally speaking, tennis’ top male competitors comprise the surliest lot of sports pros on the face of the earth.”

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FYI: The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates that major league baseball fans will eat 26 million hot dogs in ballparks during the first full season in three years.

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Trivia answer: The New York Knicks, 25 games in 1994.