Plenty of other contact team sports exist (Rugby, AFL etc) - how is American Football different? How does an American Football player get tackled differently to say a Rugby Union player?
Having played both, there are some key differences:
- American Football allows blocking, whereas rugby does not. This means it's perfectly legal to blindside someone as hard as you can, often helmet to helmet.
- Football allows tackling above the waist without wrapping your arms around the other player, whereas rugby does not. This means people can launch themselves at the other player as hard as they want without wrapping up, basically turning themselves into large projectiles. The goal, up until recently (since the league started cracking down), was to have a helmet-to-helmet collision in order to knock the other player out (most often happening to wide-receivers). Knocking out another player is a point of pride and a strategic advantage as well.
- Football has armor, Rugby does not. This actually works against Football. It encourages harder hits and head-to-head collisions. Football helmets protect against skull fractures but not concussions. The brain moves independent of the skull in a high impact collision despite how shock absorbant the helmet may be. In rugby, players are a LOT less likely to crack each other's heads together because of the risk of fracture.
I played rugby for 7 years through high school and college, and Football 2 years in high school. I never received any concussions in Rugby (let alone any serious injury at all), but did receive them in my short experience playing football, and at the Junior Varsity level no less.
If I ever have a son, as much as I love the sport, he is banned from playing American football.
For people that never played, it might be interesting to hear that at all levels, many programs institute reward systems for hard hits, amongst other accomplishments. It's mostly pride based, coming in the form of a sticker on the helmet, but it's part of the ethos of the game. When watching game film, coaches will replay hard sticks over and over to the great amusement of the whole team. Most embarrassing is being on the other end of one of those hits.
In pre-college football a certain class of players form their part of their identity around the ability to inflict and take hard hits, amongst their other duties. These also tend to be some of the most athletic kids. I'd assume just about any non-kicking NFL player has at some point in their life been one of those guys.
Oh I have no doubt it's endemic to almost all contact sports, I was just pointing out that programs across the country down to the ones that 12 year old kids start playing in, often will introduce formal reward systems for the behavior.
from my understanding of rugby, another big difference is rules regarding how a team keeps possession of the ball. In rugby (to the best of my knowledge) it's important to fall properly so that your team can ruck over you and keep possession. There is little to no incentive to try to ram forward at full speed, especially if it means falling improperly, which would just lead to a turnover.
In football it's the opposite, every yard is fought for because the team maintains possession after being tackled, and the way you keep possession long term is by moving 10 yards in 4 downs.
In rugby this means 2 players slamming directly into each other at full speed happens very rarely, while in football it happens all the time, and is in fact practiced.
In football, if you don't fall on the ball properly, you might fumble it and turn over possession prematurely. It's not exactly the same but more similar than you're making it seem.
really? I played running back for 5 years (through high school), and the only thing they taught us about falling was to fall forward. The moment your knee, hip/butt, or elbow hits the ground the play is over, so you don't have much to worry about.
protecting the ball is different than how you fall. Protecting the ball is practiced, and there are fundamentals for it (covering both tips of the ball, pressing the ball tight to your body, putting 2 hands on the ball in traffic, and transferring the ball from one hand to the other safely), so commentators are correct to judge a player for not protecting the ball properly.
Blocking and blindsiding are pretty separate things, right? Blindsiding is when you tackle someone from behind, which is why a right-handed quarterback needs a more reliable blocker on his left side. But without blocking you could still be tackled from behind.
Likewise, while above-the-waist tackles are legal in football, they're certainly not the preferred technique because they aren't as reliable.
Blindside blocks happen on plays like kickoff returns or plays where the receiver or running-back break free on a long run. Often times supporting offensive players will make b-lines toward ensuing tacklers and launch themselves full force into the unaware tackler, causing major damage.
This means it's perfectly legal to blindside someone as hard as you can, often helmet to helmet.
Intentional helmet to helmet hits are forbidden. Indeed, blindside hits are a pretty dangerous ground, with any hits touching the victims head or neck yielding significant penalties. Further there's the concept of a "defenseless" receiver, again bringing major penalties.
They constantly amend the rules to try to make the game safer, while still physical and exhilerating.
In American Football the tackler uses his body more as a missile, typically leading with the head. In Rugby the tackler leads more with the shoulder, making sure the head is out of the way, and it's more of a "wrap-up" technique.
Also, I would think that the velocities and masses involved in American Football are higher - it is more of an anaerobic sport due to the short play duration, frequent breaks between plays, and frequent player substitutions.
Watching this vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhmMU6afIHo
Not sure if those are legal tackles but the number of head high hits, coathangers etc is pretty astounding.
That would see you sent off in Australia with a multiple match ban and other punishment.
Probably about half of them would be illegal under current rules I think. Horse-collars, leading with your head and helmet to helmet contact have been outlawed, but generally all you'll get during the game is a 15 yard penalty, and maybe a $x thousand dollar fine a few days after the game.
the way the impacts happen. in rugby contact rarely happens with players moving in directly opposite directions, usually its at an angle that reduces the impact,and seldom involves the head.
football is the opposite, especially with runs up the middle , receivers cutting across the middle of the field, and the smaller, but constant, impacts experienced by the linemen on both sides of the ball.
