hi big football fan here from new zealand. i was just wondering what your opinion would be on rugby players playing in the nfl.
does anyone know if it has been tried before, as i think some of the top rugby players from over here would make excellent footballers with the right coaching of course.
the top rugby players have speed strength and skills that would probably atleast match or better the best nfl players from what i have seen.
please dont be offended by the above sentence as it is just my own personal opinion from having watched the two sports, which do i admit have alot of differences to them, but they also do have alot of similiarities too
at certain positions, perhaps. but not knowing the nuances and instincts of the game through experience would seem to be a major hindrance.
no form of american football in aus at all? perhaps going into the nfl europe would be a great platform to get noticed if a player had considerable talent and enough knowledge to play the game. stranger things have happened
And, due to the fact that they just don't play football in those countries, any player they attempted to convert would be such a project that it would hardly be worth it.
And, I'm a huge Allblacks fan. What sucks about it is the fact that I have to wake up at 2:00 am or 3:00 AM to catch any games. That is the only reason that it won't ever gain popularity in America.
as a part time rugger, I can tell you many of the skills are the same....running the ball is the same as running it on special teams....and there is very little difference from tackling an american ball carrier and a rugger with the ball (other than the smell of Beer)
but the players are different.....Second rows in Rugby are usually built like many of the guys at home watching American football.....big...with a pot gut, generally with a big mouth. American football players are so specialized that comparing them is apples and oranges.....the RBs and WRs in American football are so much faster than normal rugby players it is crazy (ruggers who run 4.36 at 6'3" tall and 260 lbs?....the Linemen in American football are unbelievably big, I mean in the Aussie Rugby league, how many 6'6" 340 lbs are there?....on an american team there best be at least 10 of them.
From playing both I have noticed that the American football players who switch over best are normally safeties and LBs
It has nothing whatsoever to do with size though. It has more to do with the lack of fundamentals that these players have. Name one player in the modern era that didn't so much as touch an American Football before becoming a player in the nfl. Yeah, you cannot. Not that it cannot be done, because athleticism and brains can make up some quick ground, it's just that organizations will not spend much time, if at all, on unfundamentally sound athletes.
Yes, there are many crossover players such as Antonio Gates, but none that have never ever played American football.
I believe the guys name was Darren Bennet....punted for the Chargers i think....wasn't he a rugger from down under.....don't know if he had any experience, and i think there have been a few kickers who hadn't played before....as if punters and kickers are real football players
It has nothing whatsoever to do with size though. It has more to do with the lack of fundamentals that these players have. Name one player in the modern era that didn't so much as touch an American Football before becoming a player in the nfl. Yeah, you cannot. Not that it cannot be done, because athleticism and brains can make up some quick ground, it's just that organizations will not spend much time, if at all, on unfundamentally sound athletes.
Yes, there are many crossover players such as Antonio Gates, but none that have never ever played American football.
Stephen Neal?
I mean both Neal and Gates knew what a football was, but neither had any real experience prior to their time in the NFL.
I wasnt suggesting that every rugby player would be a star just that some of the top guys (ie international players) would measure up.
example: the All Blacks (nz international team) had a guy called Jonah Lomu. he was about 6 ft 6, roughly 270 lbs could bench far more than his own weight, and had a best time of 10.7 secs for the hundred meters. and was well know for destroying opposition tacklers.
note# if your interested in watching a sample of his ability, videos of him are every where on the net.
oh by the way dallas cowboys and washington redskins did actually present him with a contract when he was 19 but he stayed with rugby
the reason i ask about rugby players is that they would be considerably cheaper to buy and pay than the players you have over there. eg: worlds best rugby get about 500,000 US a year
Im going to venture to guess that both Stephen Neal and Antonio Gates both played at the very least high school ball. Fundamentally rusty, not fundamentally unsound.
And Jonah Lomu, the specimen....His career was was cut short by a kidney disease. he did Have the size, athletic ability and discipline that may very well have applied to a very productive NFL career. Unfortunately, we'll never know..he was only 28 at the time. Very Very sad it was indeed.
JONAH HAD A KIDNEY TRANSPLANT AND IS BACK PLAYING FIRST CLASS RUGBY, AT A PROVINCIAL LEVEL, HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET BACK IN THE ALL BLACKS BUT A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT ALL THE SAME TO EVEN PLAY THE MOST BRUTAL SPORT IN THE WORLD
I agree that the combination of extreme size and speed is an issue. Rugby league players are about the fittest big men around but still way off gridron dimensions. Wingers, apart from smaller guys like Jason Robinson, tend to be taller than running backs. Tight end might be a position to try though.
