Is the "A level Athlete" fantasy finally dead now?

[Whiterabbit]

In terms of diversity of skills a NFL athlete cant hold a candle to a decathlon athlete. They are the true elite athletes of the world. Cardio, speed, anaerobic and aerobic endurance (takes years to develop), crazy high motoric skills, strong mental game. They got it all.

I remember a decathlon athlete from our country. Looked nothing special at all kind of like quarter of a NFL monster but his endurance, strenght and motoric skills were out of this world. He made 8700 points in decathlon.

Thats how a freak athlete can look like:

If there would be a UFC draft for new talent thats the first talent pool besides martial arts I would be looking at.

Your parents didnt let u play contact sports...pussy

 

[Rod Farva]

I think if Tom Brady studied MMA over a long weekend he could be the LHW champion

 

[Whiterabbit]

A level athletes don't require oxygen support after a 5 second sprint..

None of those are DBs as mentioned. And its all about training, they dont train for long distance. And if they let UFC fighters get oxygen masks between rounds they all absolutely would

 

[BALLERSTATUSMCG]

He runs straight up, hed certainly get fucked up eventually. But everyone does in football

wow that is a testament to Rugby athletes > NFL athletes

can you imagine NFL guys running for longer than 15 seconds at a time? lolz

 

[chaos_36]

Wasn't David Dixon just too big for Rugby.

Jerry rice isn't breaking tackles as much as he was running great routes and guys couldn't catch him. He wasn't tackle breaking machine. But I get your point.

For Lomu though, in that highlight video, it seemed like he was surrounded by guys in position to put a body on him. But it looked like they didn't want to put a body on him, they'd rather let him run past and grab him. & some of them would just stop in front of him and take the hit/try top wrap up rather than deliver the hit. If Lomu was running against his own team, he wouldn't have been breaking tackles like that. Don't get me wrong, Lomu is a beast. But he is a beast surrounded by men. In the NFL, he would've been a beast surrounded by beast.

Yeah we're saying the same thing where Jerry and Jonah are concerned, they're just freakishly good at running with ball in hand, which in turn makes the defenders look average at best. I'm not sure if you understand the rules of Rugby or not but I'm assuming what you're meaning by "deliver the hit" is hitting him the same way he would be hit by an NFL safety which would be illegal in Rugby Union but in old school Rugby League (different sport) massive NFL-esque hits were allowed but the sport has become sort of pussified over time due to CTE type conditions. Jonah also had to play an 80 minute game with only one break at the 40 minute mark which to my limited understanding of American Football wouldn't really be a requirement as the pause a lot and have multiple breaks throughout the game. You're right about the amount of freak athletes in the NFL though, it's not even comparable with either Rugby code.

 

[Whiterabbit]

wow that is a testament to Rugby athletes > NFL athletes

can you imagine NFL guys running for longer than 15 seconds at a time? lolz

It doesnt take them that long to get to the endzone...

 

[BALLERSTATUSMCG]

It doesnt take them that long to get to the endzone...

you know the only reason people watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials and so people can get together to eat chips and salsa?

no one watches the NFL anymore or NBA

 

[Whiterabbit]

wow that is a testament to Rugby athletes > NFL athletes

can you imagine NFL guys running for longer than 15 seconds at a time? lolz

The athletes go where the money is. Rugby is cool for poor countries, but they arent putting out many elite freaks. Toughest aport is dumb cause I concede it is hockey, even though I dont watch

 

[Whiterabbit]

you know the only reason people watch the Super Bowl is for the commercials and so people can get together to eat chips and salsa?

no one watches the NFL anymore or NBA

Must be the only excuse people would have to spend time with you. U are a dumb dumb

 

[MMAandBOXINGfan]

just because your an athelete doesnt mean youre a fighter.

 

[chaos_36]

Gymnasts don't start with 75% of requirements to be a good mma fighter, as the skills for punching, wrestling, grappling, timing, chin, mental toughness etc are disparate to the standard qualities defined to be an A level athlete. As i said previously, gymnasts are 25% lacking in being fully rounded athletes in general.

Decathletes don't learn to perform all their events simultaneously. You can't be mediocre at most skill sets in mma and be a champ. Decathletes are jack of all trades, master of none. That's why most success sports people train and excel in only the sport that suits their body type. They tend not to cross sports as specificity makes them so much better than they would be cross training.

There's a great TED talk about this on YouTube called "are we really getting faster" or something similar that dispels many sports myths.

Something got lost in translation there I think. I was saying Gymnasts have 75% of what's required of an A-Level athlete, not of being an MMA fighter. The only facet of athleticism that would require work is stamina and they would be starting at a fairly high level there too. Decathletes are a jack of all trades in terms of athletics, the same thing could be said about MMA fighters. Sure we get the odd Olympian here and there or an ADCC champion but that's the exception rather than the rule. Conor McGregor for example has not mastered any one facet of fighting but he's a 2 division champion.

 

[BALLERSTATUSMCG]

Must be the only excuse people would have to spend time with you. U are a dumb dumb

yeah people are always making excuses to hang out with me

 

[chaos_36]

Taking more direct impact in football, rugby tackling is far more safe than football tackling. That is why they are transitioning to it. It isnt as physical or dangerous

What I mean by "direct impact" is person on person, not 2 people wrapped up in padding and helmets crashing into each other at 100 miles an hour, sure that makes for a great highlight reel collision but there's an element of safety there. If you did that same type of tackle without padding it would probably result in knockouts or severe spinal injuries haha. I guess with the amount of cases of CTE in the NFL it probably is a more dangerous way of tackling despite padding etc.`

 

[Whiterabbit]

What I mean by "direct impact" is person on person, not 2 people wrapped up in padding and helmets crashing into each other at 100 miles an hour, sure that makes for a great highlight reel collision but there's an element of safety there. If you did that same type of tackle without padding it would probably result in knockouts or severe spinal injuries haha. I guess with the amount of cases of CTE in the NFL it probably is a more dangerous way of tackling despite padding etc.`

It is 100% more dangerous. Look up hawk-tackling. Seahawks adopted rugby tackling, so they could tackle in practice. Because it is safer than football tackling.

 

[moreorless87]

Francis has the speed and strength obviously, but with that cardio his athleticism is like D-level overall.

Unlike the NFL guys who need a break ever 20 seconds who we are told would dominate MMA?

 

[dr. john lee]

What is an A-level athlete? Every athlete is different. Every athlete is built for different sports. The only true A-level athlete is one that can cross sport barriers. Guys like Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, Conor McGregor, etc.

BWAHAHA....

Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, and Conor McGregor... Three names synonymous with one another.

 

[dr. john lee]

BWAHAHA....

Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker, and Conor McGregor... Three names synonymous with one another. I hope the Pittsburgh Steelers let Le'veon Bell walk, sign Conor, and give him 20-25 touches/game.

 

[IBeLurkin]

wow that is a testament to Rugby athletes > NFL athletes

can you imagine NFL guys running for longer than 15 seconds at a time? lolz

Lol, can you imagine rugby taking NFL players on for 15 second plays?

Yeah, that's the equivalent of what you said.

It's all dependent what they train for. NFL players make multi millions per year doing what they do, that's why they are amazing at it and that's what they train for.

As great as athletes as they are, I guarantee you many NFL players could train for rugby rules and then be amazing at it. If you don't believe so, you're out of your mind, because these guys are crazy athletic, more so than almost every rugby player in the world (statistically so).

 

[Hardkore]

just because your an athelete doesnt mean youre a fighter.

Of course not, but if you had the athletes who went into football/basketball at an early age, go into mma instead, the overall level of athleticism would be way higher

 

[cevo]

Unlike the NFL guys who need a break ever 20 seconds who we are told would dominate MMA?

People are stupid, different sports require completely different athletes. Usain Bolt wouldn't last 2 rounds wrestling despite being the very best A-level athlete in his sport. Michael Phelps would be out-run by elite teenagers if he switched over to marathon etc etc. But there are athletes that can adapt to different types of training and therefore be successful in several sports. Also it helps if the sports are somewhat similar.