Greatest athlete of modern times

Gomer said:

Your first sentence needs its own thread, “craziest athletes”. I saw a man cut his own testicle out and he threw it at me, missed and hit someone else with it. He wasn’t athletic, just crazy.

I see football as being more demanding because every play is at full speed, which is why there are pads and helmets.

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No f-ing way. Seriously?

Gomer said:

Your first sentence needs its own thread, “craziest athletes”. I saw a man cut his own testicle out and he threw it at me, missed and hit someone else with it. He wasn’t athletic, just crazy.

I see football as being more demanding because every play is at full speed, which is why there are pads and helmets.

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I definitely agree that he was crazy. There is no trophy in the world that makes me keep playing.

And I agree at each play being full speed in football That’s what makes it fun to watch.

Betterinthebush said:

No f-ing way. Seriously?

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lol. I was talking about buck shelford he was an old rugby player that in one game got kicked in the face and lost three teeth while getting knocked out. Came to then later in the game got kicked had his scrotum ripped open and kept playing the rest of the game. His testicle was actually hanging out and after the game they put it back I. And stitched him up lol he was crazy for sure.

Betterinthebush said:

No f-ing way. Seriously?

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Yeah, I went to a call of a person acting “erratic”. This was before we had tasers, so we were trying to talk him down. He was far enough away that he wasn’t an immediate threat to us. He took a couple beanbags and it didn’t seem to hurt him. Then he turned his pocket knife on his sack, cut out a nut, and chucked it at us. It went over my head and hit one of his neighbors right in the chest.

Gomer said:

I see football as being more demanding because every play is at full speed, which is why there are pads and helmets.

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I have played quite a bit of both. I played American football for 10 years, and during those 10 years I played offense and defense and punt team. This means I was rarely off the field during any given game. My only break was kickoffs. I only say this to say I wasn’t a benchwarmer. I was a multiple time all-state linebacker, as was my younger brother. I switched to rugby in college and played and then coached at a medium-sized university in the U.S. My little brother played fall football and spring rugby for his 4 years of high school, and later coached high school football. We also both wrestled at the high school level.

So if our opinions count for anything….

Rugby is WAY more demanding than American football. And, in general, man-for-man, having been around a lot of players of both sports, rugby players were tougher.

Rugby has sprinting and tackling like football, but with more constant movement a little bit more like soccer, and instead of huddles between plays (with plays lasting usually 3-6 seconds and then a solid rest of 2-3x that before the next play) you’re often involved in rucks that are a bit like wrestling matches. Also, the tackling is more difficult, and sometimes physically more like a take-down in wrestling. That takes a lot more out of you than using your momentum and pads to knock the ball carrier to the ground, at which point in football the play is whistled dead. Not so in rugby. You have to control your opponent all the way to the ground, until his team assumes control of the ball or your team wrestles it away from them. Scrums and rucks are more tiring on the big boys than playing in the trenches in football, and a good back line in rugby will cover a lot of ground in any given match.

I was very lucky to suffer few injuries though this, but rugby was also harder on my body than football.

Just my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.

This thread has gone way off topic to compare different sports instead of naming greatest athletes.

They all go off course eventually Nothing wrong with that. It’s all about people’s views, opinions and experiences.

I have an older cousin that played in pretty much every sport available to him. He was even the high school bands drum major. He was good enough to play football and be the drum major.

He choose to play Rugby while earning his doctorate. He says it is his personal pick for most physically demanding of the sports he has played.

I tease him saying that’s because he didn’t play hockey.

Tanks said:

Well, if you knew the game and appreciated the skill of players then you might think different. Sometimes it is not all about the score. Now, having played the game as a member of the school team in England I might be a bit biased. Sequence number I selected for my Rigby Shikari is 11, my number as left wing at the time.

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I played decently high level soccer growing up and was also a referee for quite a few years. And I can’t stand watching soccer.

Some of it is cultural to the international game. The over reacting drama every time they fall down is a huge turnoff.

We generally played much more physical than international teams and the refs let us. I played and officiated in one of the largest international youth tournaments in the country (the Dallas Cup) and teams former countries always commented on how much more physical the game was.

Gomer said:

Football hits are literally 3x harder than the hardest rugby hits. Even professional rugby players cringe at football hits.

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@Gomer, that (3x harder?) seems like a very arbitrary number and regardless it’s an “estimate”. Even if correct, it’s only because Football players wear heavy padded equipment and Helmets - Not because players in the NFL are stronger or tougher. Some recent comments on how to prevent serious injuries in the NFL - especially concussions - would be to eliminate helmets or at least the face masks …both of which encourages using the ‘Head’ as a weapon. I doubt Ruby Players “cringe” at anything…except maybe when the Pub runs out of Beer

Cooposo said:

I have played quite a bit of both. I played American football for 10 years, and during those 10 years I played offense and defense and punt team. This means I was rarely off the field during any given game. My only break was kickoffs. I only say this to say I wasn’t a benchwarmer. I was a multiple time all-state linebacker, as was my younger brother. I switched to rugby in college and played and then coached at a medium-sized university in the U.S. My little brother played fall football and spring rugby for his 4 years of high school, and later coached high school football. We also both wrestled at the high school level.

So if our opinions count for anything….

Rugby is WAY more demanding than American football. And, in general, man-for-man, having been around a lot of players of both sports, rugby players were tougher.

Rugby has sprinting and tackling like football, but with more constant movement a little bit more like soccer, and instead of huddles between plays (with plays lasting usually 3-6 seconds and then a solid rest of 2-3x that before the next play) you’re often involved in rucks that are a bit like wrestling matches. Also, the tackling is more difficult, and sometimes physically more like a take-down in wrestling. That takes a lot more out of you than using your momentum and pads to knock the ball carrier to the ground, at which point in football the play is whistled dead. Not so in rugby. You have to control your opponent all the way to the ground, until his team assumes control of the ball or your team wrestles it away from them. Scrums and rucks are more tiring on the big boys than playing in the trenches in football, and a good back line in rugby will cover a lot of ground in any given match.

I was very lucky to suffer few injuries though this, but rugby was also harder on my body than football.

Just my opinion, take it for what it’s worth.

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@Cooposo - I don’t doubt what you say and you appear to have been an Above Average Athlete yourself. Considering the strength, endurance, & toughness required to be a TOP Rugby player —- why don’t most of these guys tryout for the NFL, play a more “glamorous” Pro Sport, get paid the Big $$, and get mobbed by Hot Girls ie: Celebrities, Swimsuit Cover Girls. Name the “Rugby” version of Tom Brady?

HankBuck said:

@Cooposo - I don’t doubt what you say and you appear to have been an Above Average Athlete yourself. Considering the strength, endurance, & toughness required to be a TOP Rugby player —- why don’t most of these guys tryout for the NFL, play a more “glamorous” Pro Sport, get paid the Big $$, and get mobbed by Hot Girls ie: Celebrities, Swimsuit Cover Girls. Name the “Rugby” version of Tom Brady?

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Football is extremely…let’s say…position selective?

Let’s take a defensive tackle in the NFL. They are absolute giants. Huge, strong, heavy. If a defensive tackle in the NFL can control his gap and consistency require the offense to dedicate two blockers to him, he will make millions upon millions. But many of them can’t get up and down the field too well because of those very traits that make them a good defensive tackle. And that’s ok. They have defense ends, linebackers, and defensive backs to do the tackling for them.

That NFL level defensive tackle probably won’t be able to switch to high level rugby very well. He might have to lose 50-75 lbs and give up bulk to be able to get up and down the field.

The inverse is also true. Take a prop in rugby. Usually the strongest, heaviest guy on the field. But he would be useless at a high level of rugby if he can’t also get up and down the field for the entire match, ruck, tackle, scrum, lift, and carry the ball. He’ll even run with the ball and score tries sometimes. He could probably do ok at a few different football positions, but he’s not going to be the prototype for any particular position.

This dynamic exists across the two sports. High level football players are usually freaky athletic specialists, rugby players super tough generalists.

Ive followed a few high level rugby players that try to break into the NFL and it hasn’t gone too well. I know a few freaky athletic guys that were discovered when they were younger and diverted into football from rugby, and they did quite well.

There are also intangibles to take into account. A professional rugby player, say, a winger, wants to make the jump to the nfl as a running back. He has to read blocks, work with an offensive line in front of him, catch rockets from his QB, and block. He didn’t do much of that in rugby, and when everyone around you is a freak athlete, doing those things great makes or breaks NFL players.

HankBuck said:

@Gomer, that (3x harder?) seems like a very arbitrary number and regardless it’s an “estimate”. Even if correct, it’s only because Football players wear heavy padded equipment and Helmets - Not because players in the NFL are stronger or tougher. Some recent comments on how to prevent serious injuries in the NFL - especially concussions - would be to eliminate helmets or at least the face masks …both of which encourages using the ‘Head’ as a weapon. I doubt Ruby Players “cringe” at anything…except maybe when the Pub runs out of Beer

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That’s based on the studies that have been done, using sensors and such. There are more hits in rugby, but the hits in football were 3x harder. 20 G vs 60 G. The end result was a football player would receive fewer hits, but slightly more total foot pounds of energy.

Back to athletes….and golf.

This athlete, who I greatly admire, achieved a 21st place finish her freshman year at the University of Arizona. Her name is Paige Spiranac.

I look forward to the return of classic pinup art/photography like Gil Elvgrin.

HankBuck said:

@Gomer, that (3x harder?) seems like a very arbitrary number and regardless it’s an “estimate”. Even if correct, it’s only because Football players wear heavy padded equipment and Helmets - Not because players in the NFL are stronger or tougher. Some recent comments on how to prevent serious injuries in the NFL - especially concussions - would be to eliminate helmets or at least the face masks …both of which encourages using the ‘Head’ as a weapon. I doubt Ruby Players “cringe” at anything…except maybe when the Pub runs out of Beer

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https://rugbydome.com/who-hits-harder-nfl-or-rugby/ This is the study he is talking about. They were averages taken from amateurs of both sports.over a practice session though one player during the session of rugby got hit by three guys at once and there hits were 98g,160g,and 70g. So obviously people get hit way harder. I am certain the same is true with football. I’d imagine some hits are insanely high

The greatest athlete of modern times was Bo Jackson. He excelled at the highest levels of both baseball and football and possessed the physical and mental ability to excel at any sport that he chose

Interesting that you place difficulty in one aspect of a sport as the most important thing.
A baseball player barely needs to break a sweat.
Table Tennis needs more co-ordination and we are not listing these players here.
Who plays baseball anyway?
Cuba?

Gomer said:

Back to athletes….and golf.

This athlete, who I greatly admire, achieved a 21st place finish her freshman year at the University of Arizona. Her name is Paige Spiranac.

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@Gomer - Yes a very marginal athlete unable to make it on the LPGA but still might be ranked the Greatest FEMALE Athlete of ALL Time because she looks GOOD

Fascinating discussion, impossible to choose, awesome names on here, dominance in a sport vs. ability in a sport so hard to define. In swimming, Katie Ledecky, a hammer along with Phelps. Basketball, MJ hard to de-throne. Track and Field, holy cow so so many but what Owens did is without equal. There are some wrestlers like Cael or Dan and some international one's that if you appreciate that sport, are incredible. Bo is one of the few modern day multi athletes that is a freak at everything he touches. This is a fun look back at the freaks we get to watch. Freaks meant with respect and awe.

Tia-Clair Toomey is truly the book definition of an athlete.