aww... disappointed! NFL couldn't last against European rugby. NFL players are pussies playing with a helmet and basically body armour... unlike European rugby players who are real men at real sports

take nothing away from the pic, i think that it's fantastic

thanks but, as i think of it, sports is sports nothing more and nothing less.
it how you think its fun or not.

it's simply a difference between the sports. Pads would severely inhibit the range of motion required for rugby, while football players without them would literally get killed. It's not a question of "manliness," like some people seem to think, I've seen football players break their arms mid-play and still manage to fight their way to the end zone, play 3/4 of a game at quarterback with a broken throwing hand and still be effective, break their finger bones in two, go to the sideline, tape them straight and finish the game, and so on and so forth. I'm completely sure rugby players have done similar things. I wouldn't call either game "tougher," different games just require different equipment. Rugby would suck with pads, football would suck without them. rugby players do wear pads -- just not the rigid plastic sort that gridiron players use. The rule in rugby is that the material must be soft, and no more than 1 cm uncompressed. You can find all sorts of thigh, shoulder, kidney and chest protectors available for rugby players within that rule. A lot of them (particularly the forwards) wear shin pads as well. First of all there are very few substituions allowed in rugby -- you dress 23 with 15 starters all substitutions are generaly permanent. This means that at least 7 of starting players must be on the pitch for the entire 80 minutes. There are a lot fewer breaks in play as well. Believe me, after 75 minutes of running up and down the pitch and when you are into your seventh or eight mile, you are going to notice the extra weight from those rigid pads, and they are going to be interfering with your ability to run as well. You are also going to be having a lot of difficulty losing heat -- particularly if you are wearing an American style helmet. Heat stroke would be a real risk. It is also important to realize that the nature and purpose of tackling (and more importantly rucking) in rugby is fundamentally different than in gridiron. In gridiron you want to stop the runner cold -- to not give up a single inch more than necessary -- because of the downs for distance system and the uncontested breakdown. A few inches can mean the difference between keeping or losing the ball So you hit the runner as hard as possible in order to kill his momentum. The position you end up in after the hit doesn't really matter, because once the runner is down, the ball is dead. Not so in rugby. After the tackle the ball is still live -- a player off his feet must release the ball and make it available for some other player. As a result, the purpose of the tackle in that rugby is not so much to stop the runner (albeit that is generally a good thing) but to place the tackler in a position where he can remain on his feet and poach the ball. If you can flip the runner so that the ball is on the wrong side of his body, for the ruck so much the better. Similarly, the purpose of the ruck is to make the ball available to a teammate. Either way, you don't (in most circumstances) want to commit to the all-out charge or hit because it means that you can't stay on your feet and compete for the ball. The laws are different too -- in rugby you can't lead with your head, leave your feet, or shoulder charge. You must make some attempt to "wrap" up the runner with your arms when making the tackle. Again, it makes the rigid padding less necessary. One should also consider that the padding and especially the helmets may actually add to the danger as players (with a false sense of security) will tend to hit recklessly. Rugby certainly doesn't contend with the degree of deaths, crippling injuries and concussions (and early onset dementia that follows) that gridiron players experience. The rigid padding would definitely interfer with getting into the proper body position to ruck or poach the ball after the breakdown.

depends what sport. i just don't see why NFL players are over-protected... i mean a cup? what a joke

NFL Players don't wear a cup.

And it's College Football. Much more high octane and high emotion than NFL. The players don't get payed, so they play for fun, love of the game, and the hope for the future. The team whose jersey it is (University of Oregon) is about to play for their first ever National Title, and I'm super excited (definitely helps that I'm graduating from the school in three months.

That said, this picture turned out awesome. Raidy told me that he requested it and I didn't really know what to expect, but it rocks. Thank you so much.

HUT

哇~橄榄球运动员啊~好有型~