Pads and helmets aside. These guys hit each other so hard it's like two cars colliding. A few Rugby players have made the cut in the NFL, the NFL looks all around the world for anyone who they think can make it. It's a whole different animal. Even with the rule changes it's a very violent sport.
Fact of the matter is pads make people MORE reckless. In rugby without padding, the responsibility is on the player to tackle safely because there's nothing to aid them. In football, people feel like they're wearing armor so they're less concerned with their safety.
I saw an interview with Terry Bradshaw one time, he spoke about the size of some of the largest players, saying taking a full speed hit from one of those guys is like getting hit with a coke machine
@@rukysgream Football players are all insanely athletic as well. Soccer players are lean, hockey players are big and stocky. Football players are big, stocky, lean, fast and strong. Wide receivers tend to be above 6'5 in the NFL, and they're the quick nimble guys.
Hits on a defenseless player is illegal now, helmet to helmet contact is illegal now, targeting ( also known as intentionally throwing a shoulder into the helmet) is illegal now. That last one is what caused most of the helmet pops.
There was some holding and pass interference in there too. But they're just seeing how far they can push the nebulous line between blocking and tackling.
If football was played without helmets it would become less of a collision sport. The false security that a helmet offers is what gives guys the boldness to make these kinds of violent plays.
@@danielhowell167 nah helmets are an outgrowth of the game they didn't used to wear them then they wore padded leather caps then hard helmets with face protection same with the other pads they wear.
@@danielhowell167 Thats factually incorrect. "The spear tackle technique predates the introduction of helmets in football. It was used even before protective headgear became standard equipment. However, the technique was eventually banned due to safety concerns, especially after the introduction of helmets."
Not at all. The intention is to reduce injury, not pain. These are some of the biggest and fastest people on the planet and they run into each other at full speed. Anyone that argues the pads make the sport soft is flat out ignorant of how violent the hits are.
@@InfiniteKhaos Yeah, the pads were originally meant for protection, but it's clear players quickly figured out that they're more effective as weapons than protection devices
Doctors have repeatedly said tackles in American football are the equivalent of some car accidents. I like rugby. But it's definitely not the same universe
In South Dakota we have nine man football because a lot of schools aren’t big enough to field 11 men consistently. A team we played had to forfeit there next game because of broken bones received by one guy on kick returns. Their qb finished the game with a broken collar bone.
@@9BallBory Thanks for making me recheck the numbers. Your point is still invalid but Rugby and Football are closer than I knew. "FloRugby reported that the average weight of a pack was 313 lbs (142.1 kg), while the average weight of backs was 263 lbs (119.4 kg)." "NFL offensive linemen have an average height of 6 feet 5 inches and an average weight of 312 pounds. NFL defensive linemen have an average height of 6 feet 3 inches and an average weight of 310 pounds. The average height of NFL linebackers is 6 feet 1 inch, and the average weight is 245 pounds."
9ballbory let’s see you put on pads and even get hit by high school kids. I got ground into the grass by 250-300 lineman even i high school. We had kids that could bench 380 and squat 600 lbs like emmitt smith even in high school. Been hit by truck? Yep bring it 🤨
I can't help but think the helmet limits vision and severely muffles' calls from both team members and opposition. Making situational awareness difficult.
@@tishbite606 There was lots of clips of high school and college plays. I've watched enough high school football clips to know that high school players are absolutely ruthless on their hits because they're out there trying to impress collegiate scouts, in hopes of getting a full ride scholarship from a top university. Collegiate players hit even harder because they want to impress pro scouts.
@@thomasmacdiarmid8251 There are high school and collegiate teams that have a tradition that at the final home game, tha quarterback, running backs, tight ends, receivers and defensive backfield select an offensive or defensive lineman to run the ball for a few plays or give them a chance to score a touchdown as a way to recognize their work on the line of protecting the offensive players or if they are defense in stopping their opponents from scoring.
I remember a sports science show that put measuring devices on athletes to determine the speed and force they either moved or hit with. Quentin Jammer, who played cornerback for the then-San Diego Chargers, was used to measure the impact of a football tackle. Jammer, who was about 6 feet tall and 204 lbs (93 kg), was able to deliver a tackle with a force of a car hitting a wall at 35 mph (56 kilometers/hour)
Some football players can run a 100m dash as fast or faster than people that do track, it’s kind of crazy to see a 250-300 pound dude rev up and start flying down the track 😂
We had a 300lb, 6'7" running back in high school who could have competed on the track team. The only time I've ever been knocked out was when I had to block that boy.
Next you need to see "Best Jukes In Football History", "NFL's Most Athletic Plays Of All Time", "Barry Sanders 50 Most Ridiculous Plays Of All Time", and "The NFL Combine (2022, 2023, or 2024)" or such so that you can see the incredible size, strength, and athleticism of these remarkable athletes that play in the NFL.
4:45 There's a "targeting" rule in college football now - if you lead with your helmet into another guy's helmet, not only is it a 15-yard penalty and a first down, but you get ejected for the rest of the game and half of the following game.
This is also in the NFL and the UFL as well. They did that to try to reduce the number of concussions players are getting and it does help a little but not by much when you get hit head on by a 250 lb player running at 20 mph head on and your head hits the ground from a shoulder tackle.
Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski played tight end for the Patriots and said that it felt like he was in a car accident when every game ended. And he was 6’6” (1.98m) and 265 lbs (120 kg)
I sit here watching this now in my mid 50's with my feet propped up after a long day of work and look at the swollen knees and right ankle that now are arthritic because of old football injuries. And ya know what? I'd do it all again to play the greatest sport on the planet.
I’m mid 50s with knee and back problems.. I only played backyard football when in grade school. Wished I had played organized football. Instead it was soccer and baseball.
If I did not screw up my knees jumping out of trees, football did the rest of the job... LOL.. When I watch clips like this, the song " I am not as good as I once was." comes to mind... If you gave me a shot on a good tackle football with out pads, part of me would want to jump at it... The other part would be asking if I am nuts as my body couldn't take it.... BUT I WOULD BE TEMPED!!!! LOL
In my 30s, I still have a few scars from playing, straight up, no pads, and hurts, but you feel alive asf, we never go for the knee, just wist. Now, would I play it again, you bet!
LOL I can attest to that!!!! I was on a kick off play, I shot the seam perfectly pulled 3 guys to block me.. Well they hit me about the same time and I was a ping pong in the middle of them 3.... BEST PLAY EVER... Tho I did need to shake my head clear a bit before I could walk.. LOL
There’s a reason American Football players wear protective equipment. I remember back in the 80s when a bunch of rugby players were making fun of NFL players for wearing pads & helmets….but they never really watched American Football. And they’re hitting harder now than they did back then.
"I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately. Unless it was, you know, important-like a league game or something." - Dick Butkus, Chicago Bears, often considered one of the best linebackers in history
3 месяца назад
These types of hits have been regulated out of the game due to the concussion implications. They rarely happen anymore.
@@rancidmarmot1994 Yeah, him and Night Train Lane were infamous for the facemask grabs. Lane was also notorious for the forearm shiver, which is clearly demonstrated at 1:18, although I can't identify the players involved.
@r.awilliams9815 Yeah, Night Train was a wrecking ball! Those were the good ol days back before they forced defenses to treat quarterbacks like ballerinas.
The two hardest hitting teams in the 1970s were the Pittsburgh Steeler's and the Steel Curtain defense with Mean Joe Greene, and 1970s Oakland Raiders coached by John Madden. Back then even us high schooler's put a slobber knocker on our opponents.
There are a few different rules in place now. No Crack Back blocks (Hitting a players blind side), No hitting a "Defenseless" player(WR in the air unable to protect themselves) now they also have a new rule No Hip Drop Tackle. Basically you cant pull the guy to the ground from behind. Personally they are starting to put to much of the game in the Ref's hands and forcing them to make the very difficult game changing calls. In my opinion and from playing tackle football, you know what you signed on for. It's a hard hitting, fierce, adrenaline and emotion filled sport lets keep it that way.
@@mainlyyogurt You can make the "Saftey" argument for almost any tackle or hit. Why now? Why not have a rule like that years ago after LT broke Thieismann's leg with a tackle from behind? The Ref's are having a hard enough time with the rules that are in place now. Or did you not watch last season? I get trying to limit head an neck injures but if a defensive player is chasing down the ball carrier what do you except the defensive player to do? Teleport in front of the guy and tackle him? Dive at his ankles? Dive at his knees? Or just give up on the play lol?
Crack back isn't a players blind side. That is still 100% legal. A crack back is when the player blocking is moving towards their own goal line. Like a receiver hitting someone backwards rather then laterally or pushing them forward. Hence the term "crack back"
@@TheBalty Not your bad. I don't think the refs understand the rules either lol. With that being said I hope they find a way to make it easier, people don't want to watch something that makes no sense. It only makes sense to me because I've been watching for 30+ years. Refs have no excuse for getting as many calls wrong as they do.
1:54 what made that hit even more... rude so to say. This was during the Pro Bowl, the, at the time, End of the Year All-Star Game in Hawaii. usually the players didn't hit this hard. but the Late Sean Taylor (the player making the hit) only had one gear and that was "Go!"
As a Nebraska fan, I still love that Kenny Bell’s block against Wisconsin (I think the second or third clip) is included. These guys are in UNIVERSITY and hitting this hard. And that play, although called in the game as a penalty, was still completely legal.
These guys have their timing down so well that, as soon as that ball makes even a whisper of contact with the receiver's hand(s), He is slobberknocked into next Christmas. Legal.
I used to play in High School, and the worst hits are definitely the blindsided hits! You go up to catch the ball and then getting hit hard is pretty jarring! You gotta have the courage to go for it and the strength to hang on to the ball!
When they lower their helmet to tackle someone head first are the scariest ones. That’s when players end up paralyzed or worse. I was watching the lions and jets when Reggie Brown was injured. It was so bad, they had to preform CPR on him to save his life.
Former football player here, the hits are hard, I remember one time I went to hit pur QB on a scrimmage and her countered with a hit so hard, I saw spots.
The days of the "Big Boys" has largely faded in the era of more mobility, but you only need to look back into the 1980's at William "The Refrigerator" Perry, who at 6'2" and 335lbs was one of the largest to play as a full-back and did well as a defensive lineman. In one play as a fullback covering for Walter Payton, he actually picked up Payton when he had gotten bogged down in the coverage and carried him a ways until the play was blown dead as he was not allowed to do that.
Ok, so I am an American who played football in high school rugby in college in the 90's. From my experience you get bigger hits in football as players use the pads and helmets as weapons. That being said rugby can be a more brutal game, it's more like group wrestling,. Football is a swift strike, where rugby is a long battle. The day after football you felt like you had been in a car accident, the day after rugby you felt like the car dragged you down the road. I loved both games..
Agree....played a lot more Football than Rugby. Rugby has a ton of constant movement like Soccer...Football has breaks...and thats why Football hits have more energy behind them. I did notice playing Rugby that...without the Pads...people did tend to get Hurt way more when over doing it...I avoided Injury playing Rugby because I understood how to hit someone at full speed with Pads on...and knew when to back off to avoid injury.....LOVE BOTH SPORTS!
I have only played American Football, as a kid into my 20's I wish I got the chance to learn Rugby as it looks FUN!!!! Now at 40 years old, lol my body just dose not have that drive to take the impacts... Sighs....
They introduced rugby as an intramural sport at my college while I was there. Most of the players had played football in high school. The first set of games involved numerous broken collarbones and dislocated shoulders. The school had to go back and train us to do proper rugby tackles as opposed to what we were trained to do in football. Both sports are brutal in their own way and good fun.
@@billionear Not at all....In Fact...Rugby Players know and understand how to Tackle better without Injuring yourself NOT WEARING PADS....and I would say the same about NFL players WEARING PADS....it's tit for tat...I respect both sports...sorry if I said otherwise...Cheers!
You'd be surprised how many of those guys who get knocked down, just get up and head back to the huddle. Also, these guys may bigger because of all the pads, but even without the pads these guys are still massive. During the off season. they will spend hours in the weight rooms adding 20 to 30+ pounds in muscle weight..
Years back after high school. Some buddies played for UK and Ohio State. They came home we got together and played touch football. Touch became contact. It's like getting hit by a S-10 truck.
What's crazy is.. these aren't even the hardest ones I've seen. - Kyle Fuller lays the wood on Ke'Shawn Vaughn (look that up) - Wilber Marshall big hit on Lions QB Joe Ferguson (thought it killed him) - Lawrence Taylor ending Joe Theisman's career....
Ray Lewis and ED Reed were a great duo on defence for my Ravens! It was old school Ravens football.I'm excited to have Ravens football back! Go Ravens!
I played Football, defensive lineman, I can tell you at the end of the game it often felt like I had been in a car accident. I injured my knees several times. Had to have a couple knee surgeries and still have knee problems. I really miss playing though, I would do it all over again if I could.
Dangerous tackles in football is leading with the head, that's why they changed it to tackle with your shoulder. This was most likely due to spinal injuries and to prevent the target from getting either knocked out from a head-to-head tackle or more damage from a head-to-chest.
The fact that there are guys that are big enough and strong enough to just catch 200 pounds coming at full running force, and just throw them down is spooky
I already knew what video it was before I came in. From the thumbnail I could hear "Here comes the boom". This is old as hell, there are some bigger hits nowadays as well
Dude, as a former D-1 football player from a "group of 5 school"(even though they weren't called that at the time). I can promise you the pads do absolutely nothing to impede the damage on a big hit. Multiple broken ribs, sternum, plus 5 or 6 concussions before they gave a shit about CTE to prove it lol. I was a 4-3 DE/wOLB the pads make you feel invisible, the athleticism is world class, the hits are car crashes.
LMAO! This mans really said "They're padded. They're fine" LOLOLOL. Those pads dont mean much when the other dude is padded and running full tilt my boy. I'd love to see any pro rugby player pad up against a COLLEGE linebacker. Instant death.
3:13 this is mostly true in American football as well. There are rules like pass interference that prevent the defense from tackling a potential receiver down the field. There is also a penalty called “roughing the passer” which you can get for tackling the quarterback long after he throws the ball.
3:55 That play is one of the best plays in College Football history. Refs gave Michigan a first down when they clearly shouldn’t have, then that play happened. Ball don’t lie.
Best way I’ve ever heard rugby and football explained in way of differences is simply this. Rugby by is a contact sport whereas football is a collision sport.
I would think most of these hits are older. Lots of rule changes to protect the players have been implemented but boys will be boys and it’s still American football!
i used to play both rugby and american football,let me say no matter what you think rugby was much more physical. enjoyed the vid. much love from a long time Lock.
I’m not sure if this is mentioned elsewhere in the comments but it is important to understand that a lot of these plays are now illegal in the rules of American football. Any kind of contact initiated with the head of the defender or directed towards the head of an offensive player is now illegal. Blindside hits by blockers against defenders are also illegal in many cases. There is no place in the sport for these kinds of dangerous (and in almost every case unnecessary) plays. I grew up as a kid enamored with these kinds of hits and played with lots of tenacity and aggression in my 12 year playing career, but there is far too much evidence that points to the devastating long-term consequences of brain trauma in football. I still love a good violent tackle/block but when it is performed in a way that is safe for both players. Cheers!
Remember playing football when young with no pads. Just had to restrain from injuring someone. Could put them in pain but do best to not injury someone.
"Above the waste their padded and their fine" I promise you as someone who played from 8th grade to college you are not always fine lol. The pads only do so much but you still feel the hits and can still have your upper body hurt really bad
it's terrifying to see how quickly the human body can reverse direction with some of those tackles, and while the sport is safer than it used to be thanks to rule changes that are a long time coming it's still crazy to think of teens wrecking themselves before they even get to college, to then wreck themselves in college for a chance to play professionally
It was awesome finding your channel man! I took a fullback’s helmet to the side of my knee in middle school. Snapped my femur in half and dislocated my kneecap. Every time I see the guys get folded in half, I get an ache in my right leg
Helmet to helmet, launching and Horsecollar tackles are all illegal. The horsecollar is the most likely to cause injury though and has ended a lot of ppls careers not just in the NFL but in all ages. Its a ACL killer.
And this is why football generates so many players with CTE, those pads and helmets just incentivize them to crash in at full speed because "I'm safe and that's all that matters" whereas rugby has the implicit mentality to slowdown or brace yourself somewhat before impact
It’s actually crazy once you notice the size of these guys too, they all look normal because they are all next to eachother and see lol massive. But those linebackers hitting that hard are like 6’3 230 coming at speed a human that size should never be able to go.
And this is why sports like NASCAR, and Football are popular here in the U.S because there is a good chance you’ll get hurt, or killed. Like MMA, or UFC, and racing
Only about 7 more weeks until football season and I am SO ready. The main rule on tackling is that you cannot lead with your helmet. That's called targeting and it's the quickest way to be ejected from a football games!
If the target doesn't have the ball, the guy hitting him is technically "blocking." The idea is that the tackler's guy has the ball, and the tacklee might be trying to (or might eventually, possibly in a different game... :) ) tackle the ball-carrier, so a guy on the ball-carrier's team takes him out before he can. If you watch more of this stuff, every now and then you'll see the guy with the ball running with a couple of his own guys near him, and the commentators will say he "has an entourage." Those guys are supposed stick near him to block or tackle anyone who might be going after the guy with the ball. Same idea.
NFL hospital passes, and NFL cheap shots, and or NFL ejections MLB head shots. Some of those pitches are over 90 miles an hour and I believe there is INE head shot ball to bat then ball to pitchers head at 104 miles per hour. Also look into these NFL players, Larry Alen, Lyle Alzado, Lawrence Taylor, Bill Romanowski, and Bo Jackson.
Stuff like this is why they have to wear all that gear. Some people actually died or were permanently injured on the field during the game before the gear. Some still do get badly injured occasionally, and TBI is very common in later life.
the pads cause a similar effect as boxing gloves. the illusion of protection on the part of the one doing the hitting causes them to commit more force to it. also it's probably been explained but the hits on the people who don't have the ball are usually a player blocking the opposition from tackling the one with the ball
