Has anyone ever said to you that people in your country couldn’t play the sport that people in their country play? Even if they haven’t, the differences between one sport and another are often so great that the similarities tend to not matter after a while. Rugby and American Football can both be fairly brutal since the injuries that can be experienced can be kind of horrifying. Let me be clear, no one is glorifying or even really laughing at the possibility that some players get sidelined and even hospitalized after some of these vicious hits, but laughter is often a way to alleviate the stress that such images might bring to people. As for this family of rugby fans, you can see from their reactions that they’re a bit taken back by the fact that American football can be a bit dangerous thanks to the high impact that can be heard in the video. It’s more than a little obvious that the dad is laughing more at the reactions of his family than video since some of the hits taken and delivered are pretty brutal in nature and likely sent the players to the sidelines and even the locker room, if not the hospital.
But even if people don’t want to hear it, this is what these guys sign up for when they decide to play at the college and then professional level. Players are paid more or given more incentive to hit harder, run faster, and take the punishment that the other team is going to dish out since if they fall down and call it quits, no one wants them. That sounds kind of brutal, doesn’t it? Despite the decline in the NFL’s numbers, however, it’s still one of the more popular sports out there and they still put on one of the best shows at times. Rugby on the other hand is fun to watch since it’s not quite as violent but it can be without any doubt. Unlike the NFL however, rugby players are playing without the benefit of padding, unless one sees a guy with a cloth helmet to cover his ears.
That is one thing about the NFL, safety measures have been slowly getting better over the years since the number of concussions and other injuries that have long-term, lasting effects have been mounting to the point that older players have been experiencing serious side effects from their time spent in the league. Just imagine what it was like back in the day when the rules were laxer and the players were wearing minimal padding while kicking the hell out of each other. Hey, that would be more like rugby, but again, without quite as many rules. Some folks these days would state that the NFL is being overburdened with rules and that there’s no need for a good number of them. But there are plenty of rules in the NFL that are there for the safety of the players, and believe it or not, there are a lot of rules when it comes to tackling one’s opponents. The safety measures taken in the NFL aren’t perfect by any means, but they’re getting slightly better by the year in order to keep the players on the field as long as possible so they can make that money and continue to pull in the fans.
Watching the reactions from rugby fans when they finally see what the NFL is all about, in terms of hitting at least, is definitely priceless since there might be a lot of stories told about the NFL and it’s true that they do get to stop for a few moments after each play unless they’re playing hurry-up offense. Rugby tends to keep going more often than not and the physical strain on the players is intense. But between the two sports, even if the NFL has a lot of extra padding, rugby isn’t nearly as brutal as American football. The reactions of many rugby fans make this more than evident since a lot of them simply can’t believe that the players are allowed to hit each other this hard going at full speed down the field. When the helmets come off a lot of people are absolutely shocked and it shows.
As far as entertainment value goes it might sound a bit morbid and even confuse and shock some people, but like it or not, a good number of these hits were legit and while the individual being struck did go down hard, a lot of them did get right back up. Those that were hit hard enough in recent times would need to report to the sideline to make sure they’re okay, but otherwise, the game would go on. It’s brutal and it’s hard to digest at times, but for rugby fans, at least they know that the NFL isn’t a joke when it comes to the actual game.
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