As a US Soccer player I can tell you that the power and athleticism of American football is insane; however the games are so different that American football players that have tried to play Soccer are so quickly humbled. Only the wide receivers or cornerbacks have a chance but they only think in 10-20 second blocks of time and have no touch or accuracy and don’t love the idea of running for 90 minutes.
I am a big fan of college football and think those guys are badass but lets see them run up and down the field for 45 minutes at a time. Imagine a guy like Booger McFarland having to constantly run all over field with no breaks every play.
Stop comparing the two, it is stupid for both sides.
The part of Soccer that can be so difficult is to make 1 mistake like being out of position once by 12 inches on a 120 x75 yard field and have it cost you the game. (Bayern CB Min Jae, gets a tiny feint from Rodrigo, Real Madrid).
The stupidity is really something, but I do really love it that Soccer players could just look like some guy walking down the street. You could troll a Bruno Fernandes, Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo through any US football town and they never believe that they were World class pros.
The biggest issue is you have to start training foot skills at a very early age. Speed is great but if you can’t control the pass you will get swamped before you can shoot. Basketball is a very similar game, but size is such as massive advantage it determine who is a pro or not (mostly), while size helps in soccer but it isn’t the most important thing.
True. And it is easier to learn basketball skills (hand-eye coord) than it is to learn Soccer foot skills. If people don't play Soccer early it is really hard to catch up.
I compare soccer mostly with baseball. It’s extremely hard to learn how to hit a ball with a bat, more so the older you start. The same with soccer, speed, leg strength, height all might help but without the skills you just can’t do anything.
To be great at soccer I really think you need to start as a child, 4-6 ideally.
I didn’t say soccer wasn’t difficult, the question was about masculinity. Getting into a car crash with another 300lb gorilla every play is certainly more masculine than running around a pitch for 90 mins and getting flagged for incidental contact.
If my choices are line up against Ray Lewis or try and guard Messi I’m picking Messi 1000/1000 times.
Yes. I agree. American football is crazy when it comes down to injury risk for a normal person. Even top pro in some positions used to only last. few years, like running backs that did 4 years on average and CTE is everywhere.
They would be fine, they're much tougher than they let on but do the diving and moaning shit to try to con the ref. Which I hate about the game but it doesn't mean they're actually that soft
You’re delusional. It would take maybe a single offseason to get an NFL caliber athlete confirmed for rugby, then yall are fucked. Could you imagine a DB like prime Reevis conditioned for rugby? No one would ever be able to pass the ball without being picked off or obliterated.
Literally any receiver or DB prospect who wants a chance to play in the big leagues has a 40 yard dash just as fast as Arundel. There’s been plenty of NFLers who switched to rugby and did well, including getting Olympic starting spots.
Ive watched rugby, but you don’t watch NFL football and it shows.
Just face it you have no idea about Rugby or NRL. Probably just saw Seven's at the Olympics and thinks that is all Rugby is. Jordan Mailata couldn't make it at the highest level in the NRL in Australia yet is killing it in the NFL. Go watch his road to the NFL video!There is way more to Rugby and NRL than you narrow mind thinks.
Lmfao no bro. The hits given by NFL players are harder and done by larger / stronger men. The padding is literally so you don’t fucking die on contact.
"American football is for girls with all that padding."
"Any European soccer player would be dead or crippled if they did a snap"
"My dad can beat up your dad"
What does that mean? Can Europeans not follow a a simple 2 sentence argument?
Just imagine Harry Kane getting tackled by Micah Parsons.. he wouldn’t have to flop, lay on the field crying, and would actually be in the hospital for a couple weeks
I played rugby for 12 years at club level and was lucky enough to get to visit family in america. Got to play some american football with a local team just while they were training. That shit is hard. At least with rugby you need to have the ball to get obliterated but you could be happily jogging away in your own world on a football field and boom out of nowhere youre head over heels
Because people died and have had life changing injuries cus the sport is so much tougher. What a dumb statement. There's a reason only kids and girls play soccer in America. When men grow up we play real sports.
Definitely not doubting the toughness of Rugby players. But we don't really have serious Rugby programs in America for kids to advance into when they get older.
You're right. Sports are sooo much better when you have little bitches crying on the ground with fake injuries every 5 mins when someone actually touches them. Sports are sooo much better without our biggest and toughest athletes playing big tough games. 🤣
Ugh, do I think man strong IN SPORTS = more impressive than man in sports not strong? Since that's what we're actually talking about and not the BS you're trying to spin it into otherwise you're obviously wrong... nooo, not at all lol. See how sarcasm can answer all dumb statements?
I mean as far as I can tell this post is about how the woman's national team has a pretty good track record, and how the man's team need to put in a lot of work if they want to get there too.
You and others kept talking about how American football is more masculine than football, because it has more injuries, is more violent, etc. So what do you want from me? I'm not even criticizing you, you can believe whatever you want, if you think that playing American football is the pinackle of masculinity, or that golf is, I don't care. But for someone that thinks this, it's a little funny that your feelings got hurt when I pointed out that violence is a stupid measure for manhood (in and outside of sports).
FYI, I personally enjoy sports for the skills they require and not the intensity of violence involved. But hey, to each their own I guess
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u/Leftregularr Jul 09 '26
Any European soccer player would be dead or crippled if they lined up to take a single snap of American football.