(September 14, 2020 at 3:20 pm)Ranjr Wrote:(September 14, 2020 at 2:24 pm)Nomad Wrote: No it just get's you injured more often, and worse. At the weight and speed serious American Football is played at, padding only adds momentum, not protection.
We don't have an unpadded control group to test that against, so I'll go with my own experiences. Other than using the helmet as a weapon, I'd much rather hit or be hit with pads. Maybe some hockey players will weigh in.
Y'all are ignoring history. Pads were developed to decrease debilitating, even deadly injuries.
There are people who like American football, then there are people who look at the pads and helmets and call the players wimps. I never understood this. I played sandlot on my street, and even without the pads, I wanted the pads. I never played HS. But I have seen plenty of injuries in HS and college and pro. The protective equipment does not make them wimps. Even on D-Day the soldiers had helmets.
I am old enough to remember Giant's Lawrence Taylor breaking Washington's Joe Theismann's leg.
NFL players get put through the grinder, even prior to entering the league, as young as Pop Warner.
If rugby or soccer fans think they could handle playing in the NFL they are sadly mistaken. All sports have risk of injury, but to say American football is less of a risk is absurd.