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[Sirus]

But we already have soccer! It's that game where you run around kicking a ball through a goal. Oh, and it seems to cause massive riots whenever it's played in Europe and South America

But as we have said: "soccer" involves only using your feet. American football involves using your arms, legs, shoulders, whatever. Which one does it make more sense to call football?

The American sport, because America is superior in all things!

[RedKing]

I don't really see how that is going to do anything to it. It's way to popular to be made illegal for health reasons, and the players are being paid way to much to care about 'future worries'. And people are not going to stop liking something just because it causes other people injuries.

Edit: Also I am pretty sure that boxing is still a thing, so if it is only as bad as that.

There are already anecdotal reports that enrollment in youth football leagues is dropping significantly. Parents don't want to let their kids grow up to get pummeled for a living and wind up brain-damaged or suicidal like Junior Seau. Less youth players means less high school players less high school players means less college players. Less college players means less players for the NFL.

Eventually, IMHO it'll go one of two ways.
1. Congress steps in and legislates safety into the game or forces the NFL to make significant changes. One thing being discussed is weight limits on players/positions. Like, "no linemen over 350 pounds" or "total offensive line weight of 1300 pounds" or something.

2. No significant safety measures are taken, and more parents pull their kids out, leaving only the most desperate players still in, willing to sacrifice their bodies in the hopes of a college scholarship and/or big salary later in the pros (not much different than it is now). More desperate players and a thinner talent-base, you might see the game get MORE violent. Could turn into something out of one of those dystopic future films.

[MonkeyHead]

Just throwing my hat in the ring. To lots of Welsh, Aussies and Kiwis, football = rugby. Not always rugby union. Rugby league too, especially in the north of England. Dont forget Aussie Rules, which might as well be the only sport in existance in most parts of Australia. Oh, and Canadian Football, but nobody cares about that, not even Canadians.


As for the whole injuries thing, the padding and helmets are paritally to blame IMHO. Players make hits and take bumps in American Football showing no self preservation as they are partially protected by thier gear. Long term this leads to the brain injuries seen in older players. In Rugby, the lack of protection, fewer substitutions and lack of constant play breaks means players have to show at least some self preservation. Removing the helmets and padding might go some way to "slowing" American Football down  in order to reduce long term brain damage, but might increase the number of less serious "instantaneous" injuries , but as Rugby has only been played pro for around a decade it will take time to see the long term effects of basically unprotected musclebound behemoths running into one another. I read somewhere (BBC?) that someone like Jamie Roberts puts his body through the equivalent of a car crash when taking contact, and no doubt this is the same for most American Football players. A few years ago he suffered a fractured skull and played on for 15 mins before passing out. Based on my own following of both sports instantaneous injuries (broken bones, nasty head cuts, KO's) seem more common in rugby (often due to being fallen on by 17 other guys as much as taking a hit) as opposed to the more repetition/critical failure based injuries (muscle strains/tears, ligaments/knees/elbows) in American Football, as might be expected, with the nature of player protection.

[Owlbread]

Just throwing my hat in the ring. To lots of Welsh, Aussies and Kiwis, football = rugby. Not always rugby union. Rugby league too, especially in the north of England. Dont forget Aussie Rules, which might as well be the only sport in existance in most parts of Australia. Oh, and Canadian Football, but nobody cares about that, not even Canadians.

And the split tongued sourocks call ice hockey "Hockey". Bloody Canadians.

[Aptus]

Meh I have never understood the fascination for handegg. I have tried watching it on multiple occasions but it's just not fun. 0-10 seconds of mounds of muscle running into eachother, then the ref stops it and it takes several minutes for them to stand up in position again. And repeat. Sure there is a lot of strategy in it but it seems the same as football or baseball, fun to play but a damn chore to watch.

[penguinofhonor]

There isn't enough slamming or jamming in football for me, but I appreciate the sport for giving me an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday once a year.

[MaximumZero]

So, since I was a football (american) player for a couple of years, and I really enjoy the sport...

How weird is it that an offensive player had the biggest hit of the game? Delanie Walker (fullback) absolutely destroyed Jacoby Jones during a kick return.

[lordcooper]

There isn't enough slamming or jamming in football for me, but I appreciate the sport for giving me an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday once a year.

Might I recommend cricket in that case?  It's an excuse to get drunk that has been known to last for over a week on occasion.

To lots of Welsh, Aussies and Kiwis, football = rugby.

I've lived in Wales for nearly twenty years and have no idea what you mean.

[RedKing]

So, since I was a football (american) player for a couple of years, and I really enjoy the sport...

How weird is it that an offensive player had the biggest hit of the game? Delanie Walker (fullback) absolutely destroyed Jacoby Jones during a kick return.

Admittedly, I didn't see that much of the game, but what about that shot that Michael Crabtree took near the end of the game on that 3rd-and goal? Dude.
In slow-mo, you can see his head wobble around like a prizefighter, and his helmet came halfway off.

[MaximumZero]

So, since I was a football (american) player for a couple of years, and I really enjoy the sport...

How weird is it that an offensive player had the biggest hit of the game? Delanie Walker (fullback) absolutely destroyed Jacoby Jones during a kick return.

Admittedly, I didn't see that much of the game, but what about that shot that Michael Crabtree took near the end of the game on that 3rd-and goal? Dude.
In slow-mo, you can see his head wobble around like a prizefighter, and his helmet came halfway off.

I took that one into account, but Delanie Walker hit Jacoby Jones so hard that he flipped almost completely upside down. Walker was still holding on to Jones, so he buried him into the turf. Watch some gifs here.

[MonkeyHead]

There isn't enough slamming or jamming in football for me, but I appreciate the sport for giving me an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday once a year.

Might I recommend cricket in that case?  It's an excuse to get drunk that has been known to last for over a week on occasion.

To lots of Welsh, Aussies and Kiwis, football = rugby.

I've lived in Wales for nearly twenty years and have no idea what you mean.

So in those 20 years you never noticed how local clubs are often called [PLACENAME] Rugby Football Club? Pretty much all the lil valley and village teams I have ever played for or encountered had that form of name more or less.

Spoiler: Richard Burton puts it better than me... (click to show/hide)

"We are the Nation of the Possessed, where Rugby Football is concerned.

Rugby football is about grace and style, about making the difficult look easy.

It is about courage, a last line of defence.

We fans have long memories, a precise recall of special moments, the educated boot of a last minute victor when time was running out, and the legend was running in.

The moment we think the past is irretrievably lost, we rediscover it.

The faces are different, the template is the same.

It is only a rugby football ground, but it might be a Cathedral where all are safely gathered within."

Richard Burton

[lordcooper]

That's because rugby is actually called rugby football for historical reasons, not because people are dumb enough to think that the modern forms of rugby and football are almost identical.

[MonkeyHead]

Oh, I get it now! My intention wasnt to point out that people consider the sports one and the same, simply that in the South Wales valleys people refer to rugby as football - i.e. "Justin Tipuric is a good footballer" - not that he could play for Man U, but that he has rugby skill...

[Korbac]

Oh, I get it now! My intention wasnt to point out that people consider the sports one and the same, simply that in the South Wales valleys people refer to rugby as football - i.e. "Justin Tipuric is a good footballer" - not that he could play for Man U, but that he has rugby skill...

Tiperic was pretty good, actually. As was Alex Cuthbert.

It was an okay game, but I just felt that for 90% of the game, one of the teams dominated. Only in the last 10 minutes was there any real contest going on.

[RedKing]

So, since I was a football (american) player for a couple of years, and I really enjoy the sport...

How weird is it that an offensive player had the biggest hit of the game? Delanie Walker (fullback) absolutely destroyed Jacoby Jones during a kick return.

Admittedly, I didn't see that much of the game, but what about that shot that Michael Crabtree took near the end of the game on that 3rd-and goal? Dude.
In slow-mo, you can see his head wobble around like a prizefighter, and his helmet came halfway off.

I took that one into account, but Delanie Walker hit Jacoby Jones so hard that he flipped almost completely upside down. Walker was still holding on to Jones, so he buried him into the turf. Watch some gifs here.

Daaaaaamn. That's pretty impressive to hit a charging player hard enough to change his momentum 90 degrees like that. Of course, a fullback is pretty much made exactly for that purpose -- he just usually has the guy with the ball behind him at the time.