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This is what rugby players have been teasing football players about forever. And really, the only way to make it work is if they also get rid of most of the pa

This is what rugby players have been teasing football players about forever. And really, the only way to make it work is if they also get rid of most of the padding. Because even with a rugby form tackle , if you smack into a full padded up football player, that's going to cause some trauma.

Retric 16y ago
I like the idea of taking it to the other extreme, attach the helmet to the shoulder and back padding so you can swivel the helmet but not change it's angle relative to the body. Then add even more padding and focus the sport on armored tanks flailing at each other. You would still have the issue of people flying end over end and landing on their heads so replace the playing surface with gymnastic mats. Of course we could still get some joint injury’s so add a protective exoskeleton to prevent over extension etc and then watch as people fling their body’s around and bounce off of each other. It might not be a sport at that point, but it would be an interesting spectacle.
- 83457 16y ago
  ...and require a player to actually go through the uprights with the ball for field goals by way of strategically placed trampolines?
  - Retric 16y ago
    I like it, still if your going that far why not have them play inside a giant pinball machine?
alex_stoddard 16y ago
I played rugby all through school in Scotland. Starting at eight years old they had us spend months on tackling drills, and a lot of it was how not to hurt yourself in making a tackle. I wince just about every time I see an American football hit now I live in the U.S., just from the risk the tackler is taking with their body. However there are other significant differences between (union) rugby and American football which make removing protection dubious. There is no blocking in rugby so only the ball carrier faces being hit and is almost always aware the hit is coming. Also a man on the ground must release hold of the ball so there is no need to go all out to force a fumble.
- dagw 16y ago
  The other huge difference is that tackles in rugby are mostly from behind with both players moving, meaning there is less in the way of an actual collision. American football has a lot more tackles involving two players running into each other head on or the tackling player running into a stationary player.
  - andrew1 16y ago
    I can't believe that's true; tackles from behind can only really occur when a player has broken the game line, which happens far less often than a player running into defenders on the game line.
  - mootothemax 16y ago
    The other huge difference is that tackles in rugby are mostly from behind with both players moving That's simply not true. When you're taught to tackle, it's always from the point of view of someone running in to you. In fact, I remember "classic"-style tackling from behind being actively discouraged, as no-one wants a mouth full of fast-kicking studs.

Retric 16y ago

I like the idea of taking it to the other extreme, attach the helmet to the shoulder and back padding so you can swivel the helmet but not change it's angle relative to the body. Then add even more padding and focus the sport on armored tanks flailing at each other. You would still have the issue of people flying end over end and landing on their heads so replace the playing surface with gymnastic mats. Of course we could still get some joint injury’s so add a protective exoskeleton to prevent over extension etc and then watch as people fling their body’s around and bounce off of each other. It might not be a sport at that point, but it would be an interesting spectacle.

83457 16y ago
...and require a player to actually go through the uprights with the ball for field goals by way of strategically placed trampolines?
- Retric 16y ago
  I like it, still if your going that far why not have them play inside a giant pinball machine?

alex_stoddard 16y ago

I played rugby all through school in Scotland. Starting at eight years old they had us spend months on tackling drills, and a lot of it was how not to hurt yourself in making a tackle. I wince just about every time I see an American football hit now I live in the U.S., just from the risk the tackler is taking with their body. However there are other significant differences between (union) rugby and American football which make removing protection dubious. There is no blocking in rugby so only the ball carrier faces being hit and is almost always aware the hit is coming. Also a man on the ground must release hold of the ball so there is no need to go all out to force a fumble.

dagw 16y ago
The other huge difference is that tackles in rugby are mostly from behind with both players moving, meaning there is less in the way of an actual collision. American football has a lot more tackles involving two players running into each other head on or the tackling player running into a stationary player.
- andrew1 16y ago
  I can't believe that's true; tackles from behind can only really occur when a player has broken the game line, which happens far less often than a player running into defenders on the game line.
- mootothemax 16y ago
  The other huge difference is that tackles in rugby are mostly from behind with both players moving That's simply not true. When you're taught to tackle, it's always from the point of view of someone running in to you. In fact, I remember "classic"-style tackling from behind being actively discouraged, as no-one wants a mouth full of fast-kicking studs.