Is American Football Too "Girly"?

I just have to ask! And i'm comparing it to one other sport only,Rugby League.


A.F's wear,helmets,HUGE shoulder pads,knee pads,elbow pads,jock strap,hip pads,neck rolls,spider pads,gum shield,rib protectors,gloves,ass pads!

R.L.players wear,jock strap and gum shield!!


A.F.match has 4 15min games but because they have that many bloody stops,a game can take up to 3 hours!!

R.L.has 2 40min halves with a 10min break!


With that kinda protection you would expect A.F.to be like R.L.but it soooo isn't.every time there's any kind of tackle in A.F.,play stops! every time advantage is taken,play stops! the body protection should be an advantage,but it is never used.there is no flow to the game.once it stops it takes forever to start again.

Unless the tackle is illegal,play will always continue in R.L.they don't stop.they just pile in and keep on going.also in a tackle, if a player is off side,he can be stamped on.or as its known in the game,"rooking."the game is allowed to flow and is only stopped briefly when there is an injury,a penalty,a throw in or an indecisive try or "touchdown."


For 80min R.L. players slog their guts out,taking all kinds of punishment to their unprotected bodies.its a brutal game,so these guys have to be as hard as nails! if a player is bleeding he doesn't go off permenantly,a blood replacement is sent on while he's patched up.also,the ball is not allowed to be passed forwards,therefore making the game that much harder.and you can only score a try if your hand is in contact with the ball while it is on the ground.


Meanwhile,the highly protected A.F's seem to spend most of their time wandering about on the pitch.they never seem to work hard enough! whats worse,the whole team can be substituted during the match,which gives players even less work too do! no wonder some of the defensive players have beer bellies! scoring a touch down and passing is also easier.plus the ball is made smaller to help with forward passing.


American Football tries to be a manly game but it isn't.Rugby players would eat 'em for breakfast!! They play a much tougher game for much longer and with considerably less protection.
Time for the American players to butch up!!!!



[edit on 31-8-2007 by jakyll]

[edit on 31-8-2007 by jakyll]

My personal opinion is that the pads make the game a LOT faster...when I watch rugby, it seems like it's in slow motion compared to American Football...

I will grant you that rugby is a LOT tougher, but I'm guessing the pads and speed of AF is more for the fans than it is for the player...the speed makes it more exciting.

Just my humble opinion.

reply to post by Jaruseleh


Aye,when they actually do something they can shift it,lol.
But i think thats because they have the advantage of being able to do forward passing.in rugby you can't go long!!

And thankyou for your humble opinion

true...the deep pass is one of the most exciting moments in AF...although they're added a lot of rules that have made it nearly impossible for defensive player to make a good play, but that's a different story altogether. lol

I'm talking as an English man here there is nothing girly about American Football it's quite a beautiful sport the one thing i don't understand is the way alot of it seems to be set indoors i don't feel that does the game any justice i much prefer to watch the outdoor games whenever i can. If any english rugby players tried to pull half of the tackles and air dives without that gear on they'd kill someone or end up permantely damaging other players. Rugby players in no shape or form get flipped over like to the extent i've seen American Football players been.

AF does seem to have a hell of alot of rules and redtape that makes the game less enjoyable than it could be is true but to say RL is shorter i don't understand because the amount of stoppage time and scrums RL games usually has is a joke i understand what you mean about the segments though.

Sometimes you see some stonecold tactics been used in AF that just makes your jaw drop in amazement where as alot of the time in RL the only exciting bits are the trys and running for the touchline.







[edit on 1-9-2007 by SR]

AF is definately a chess match. There is SOOO much strategy involved that most people just have no idea about.

I agree that sports should be played outside...I hate the whole dome thing. I'm a Green Bay Packers fan, and some of the best games ever have been played in snow or rain. Not to mention teams who play half their games out of the year in a dome have a huge advantage statistically (especially kickers).

reply to post by SR


I agree,there are some plenty of bone crunching tackles in AF,but when your kitted out like that,why the hell not!! lol.

I have 5 screws in my shoulder, a broken wrist, 2 concussions, and a broken toe from football. Run full speed into another man running at you in 20 degrees F weather, and tell me how it feels.

Well imagine running at a man at full speed wearing nothing but a gum shield and a box over your crown jewels!!

Thats something you can't avoid in rugby,and these guys just get up and carry on playing!!

reply to post by jakyll


Not to put the toughness of rugby players down, but the speed of american football is WAY faster than rugby. Our players are a lot faster in general, whereas rugby players seem to be just big dudes who like to run people over.

So I guess the question is, would you rather hit a slow big guy with no pads, or a fast maybe-not-so-big-but-then-again-maybe-bigger guy with pads. Either way there's gonna be pain.

Yeah,A.F. is definatly quicker.even rugby league and rugby union differ in speed.but i think that comes down to how the games are played.R.L.is more to do with strategic build up,whereas A.F.has the advantage of a quarter back being able to pass the ball long to the running back.but if you ever watched players such as Martin Offiah and Jona Lomu,you've got the worst of both worlds.big fellas and extremely quick players that could brush you outta the way as if you weren't even there!

I think,just once i'd like to see A.F. played like R.L.after all,in the early days of A.F.they didn't wear the kinda padding as they do now.its got a bit like soccer,too many rules that spoil the game.

Having placed American Football in the UK on and off for the last 20 years, and taking a break this year and looking to play again next year, I do not consider the pads as padding but equipement that enables me hit harder.

And hits I have taken and given out, this is no girly sport.

Originally posted by jakyll
American Football tries to be a manly game but it isn't.Rugby players would eat 'em for breakfast!! They play a much tougher game for much longer and with considerably less protection.
Time for the American players to butch up!!!!



[edit on 31-8-2007 by jakyll]

[edit on 31-8-2007 by jakyll]

Then let's put them on the same field and see what is what. The average lineman is well over 300 lbs and can run faster than you and me. Weight plus velocity equals a #load of force when hit. That might have something to do with the protection. Linebackers are only slightly less heavy, around the 260 range. Hell, even DB's go over 200 lbs these days. As to the stamina, I'll give you that one, being a soccer(football) player myself. With protection or not, the ruggers would be pounded into submission.

If only I was a 200 lbs DB!!!! And I have been on the recieving end of pulling guards, clearing the way for the running back.

Fortunately in the UK, there are not many 300 lbs linemen

Originally posted by jakyll
Time for the American players to butch up!!!!

Say what? Look back on football history and you will see why. Especially the wedge. The players back in the day without all the pads would link arms and charge down the field while protecting the ball carrier. Bones broken, head injuries, and players even died.

Sorry for getting cranky but the American players have this safety gear for a reason.

I should know my dad was a football coach. And I watched HS games for 11 years as well as UT football games.

It dosen't take much to get hurt. I was playing a fun game of tag football about oh 15-16 years ago and I ended up breaking a bone in my foot when it got over flexed.

[edit on 9/6/2007 by Leyla]

They're two very different sports, but I play rugby and take a lot of punishment, and at the end of some games I'm in agony. But to the people who say there is no speed in rugby, try getting hit by Bryan Habana with no padding on, and see how you cope And rugby players have to deal with that sort of damage to their bodies pretty much non-stop for the entire game. The play doesn't stop after every tackle, we have to get up and keep going, no matter how much pain we're in

[edit on 7-9-2007 by DragonsDomain]

Originally posted by Leyla

Say what? Look back on football history and you will see why. Especially the wedge. The players back in the day without all the pads would link arms and charge down the field while protecting the ball carrier. Bones broken, head injuries, and players even died.

Then thats their fault for linking arms and running at eachother, that sounds like a pretty rediculous thing to do. The fact is, modern day american football players are good athletes who could probably take a lot of punishment without the pads, but the nature of the game doesn't allow that. Rugby does have tackling rules which is why there aren't more injuries than there are, and extremely rare deaths. That doesn't mean to say, however, that it doesn't feel like you've been hit by a truck when a twenty stone prop dumps you on your back.

Wow, you have got to be joking. Please, please tell me this thread was posted as a joke.

You are trying to compare being hit by a 160 pound man with being hit by a 280 pound linebacker!!??? :shk: Shhh, please.

[edit on 7-9-2007 by SpeakerofTruth]

I have not idea what the OP intended in starting this thread SpeakerofTruth.

Fortunately I have played most of my time on D, so have dished out more than I have recieved, and with the right training and attitude, even a 160 pound DB can dish out a lick.

But more weight, does equal more mass and more hurt!!!

Those who fault safety equipment worn by the NFL, I don't think understand the size of the players and the velocity that these players achieve on the field and the violence that accompanies the collisions that occur on the field.

The beauty of the NFL is the complexity of the sport and the highly specialized nature of the squads and the individual positions.

Now if we could only get rid of the dirty dancers, the criminals, and the other undesirables in the league and we just might have a sport that exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship.