If NFL is A level athleticism

I think the A level athlete thing works differently than you're implying it works.

The right way to think about it is that true a level athletes will often opt for either basketball, football, soccer, or some Olympic sport before opting to have their heads bashed in doing mma, making the probability that a level talent goes to mma small.

What you're saying is that any person who's played pro football is an a level athlete, and that's obviously false.
'People' opt for different sports for different reasons. They don't choose a sport just because they are athletic and another becuase they aren't.
 
Nfl and soccer are on the two ends of the spectrum. Nfl guys are by far the strongest and most powerful, but possess the worst cardio, where soccer is the weakest and least powerful, but have the best cardio. The best middle is rugby imo. There is only one stop in a rugby match and that’s halftime, but they have to be big and strong as well.
About the NFL cardio - Wide receivers in todays NFL must have great cardio because of the passing game. they are constantly running fly & post routes.
 
About the NFL cardio - Wide receivers in todays NFL must have great cardio because of the passing game. they are constantly running fly & post routes.
You are right. But they still get at least a 30 second rest between plays though where in rugby you literally never stop jogging
 
When you're forced to prove a guy wrong by some weird technicality or abusing semantics, then it often means he's pretty much right. However, I'm not entirely sure @D 1 Wrestler is correct. I just think your counter argument is completely unconvincing.
I'm right
It's not a technicality to say someone who was paid by a pro team to play soccer was a soccer player. Its an in arguable fact.

Also, there are numerous soccer players who run quicker over 40 metres. So he's wrong either way.
40m is not 40 yards lol. Bolt thing was 100% publicity stunt
 
You are right. But they still get at least a 30 second rest between plays though where in rugby you literally never stop jogging
How often do rugby players do all out sprint? I've watched s few games and it's a ton of standing around scrums and jogging with few full open sprints
 
How often do rugby players do all out sprint? I've watched s few games and it's a ton of standing around scrums and jogging with few full open sprints
Depends on the type of play your team does, but If you’re a forward which are the bigger guys that are in the scrums, you’d be sprinting every few seconds for a short burst
 
How often do rugby players do all out sprint? I've watched s few games and it's a ton of standing around scrums and jogging with few full open sprints
Dude we get it. America has some awesome athletes no doubt, you are probably one if not the greatest sports country in the world. But there are other athletes out there that are as good or better because as great as your nation is in sports, you are not greater than the whole world combined. lol
 
It's not a technicality to say someone who was paid by a pro team to play soccer was a soccer player. Its an in arguable fact.

Also, there are numerous soccer players who run quicker over 40 metres. So he's wrong either way.

Source that he was paid to play in a soccer match? How much did he get? I posted two articles saying he only played in amateur friendlies, which I take to mean he wasn't paid for those games.
 
Dude we get it. America has some awesome athletes no doubt, you are probably one if not the greatest sports country in the world. But there are other athletes out there that are as good or better because as great as your nation is in sports, you are not greater than the whole world combined. lol
Why have two great rugby players failed in the nfl recently?
 
NFL players get more long term brain damage, but rugby players have more chance of breaking their neck, spine and paralysis. And they are fitter as they don't stop every five seconds.

NFL players get more injuries in general, more severe injuries, and are injured more often. ACL tears, muscle tears, broken bones, paralysis, brain damage, etc. All of these happen more often in American football. Look it up.

As far as conditioning goes, a lot of American Football players have track and field backgrounds, wrestling backgrounds, basketball backgrounds, etc. Just because the sport itself is an Anaerobic sport, doesn't mean the athletes conditioning is limited to it.

There is also the point that in a lot of aerobic sports, the athletes aren't going full speed. That is where the saying "it is a marathon not a race" comes from. Pacing is important in Aerobic sports. So while American Football maybe an anaerobic sport, you have to remember that they are going full speed, not pacing themselves.
 
Why have two great rugby players failed in the nfl recently?

For the same reason all NFL players who tried failed to achieve top level in MMA?

It's a different sport, that requires different skills.

Ochocinco tried playing soccer in MLS (Major League Soccer - US top league) which by world standards is a low level league and failed. Why? Oh and he played soccer in high school, so he knew the game.
 
There is no doubt some of these guys have world class speed and some are A-level athletes. But there are several questions

1. How many NFL players possess that speed?
2. Does world class speed alone make you an A-level athlete if you don't have other attributes? Like strength, stamina, reflex, coordination.
3. Are obese NFL players who are basically there to provide pounds of flesh for the human shield also A level athletes?
4. Does having world class speed and skills for an NFL player translate into MMA, other combat sport or any other sport? We had Ochocinco try out soccer in MLS (which is low level soccer league by the world standards). He failed miserably, because in soccer and MMA for that matter you need a lot more advanced technical skills and tactical IQ, the technical and tactical skills are completely different.

I think you need to train a sport from a young age to achieve a world class level. Most European soccer teams have their own youth development academies. They usually take in kids as young as 5 years old and stop taking in kids that are older than 11. Reasoning behind that is that it's common knowledge, at least in soccer, that you can't train certain coordinational and technical skills if you start training after age of 11, so no point investing in those kids. That's why I think no one will be able to catch up with Khabib who started training martial arts at age of 4, at least when it comes too grappling.
1) World class speed? 5 out of 1500 rostered NFL players
2) Yes if you have world class speed that makes you an A level athlete as a sprinter
3) I would say obesity and A level athleticism can be accomplished. Although rare it does happen there are some tremendous tackles that are Hall of Famers because of athleticism like Larry Allen (Cowboys)
4) No, track speed is of no use in MMA, or any other combat sport. Maybe in soccer or rugby. Ocho's problem is like any other pro baller trying to change sports. Lack of experience in said sport.

I totally agree with your last paragraph, and you could use term "American football" instead of "European soccer" and your statement would still be true. Ballers at that level of the game start before the age of 10.
 
For the same reason all NFL players failed to achieve top level in MMA?

It's a different sport, that requires different skills.

Ochocinco tried playing soccer in MLS (Major League Soccer - US top league) which by world standards is a low level league and failed. Why? Oh and he played soccer in high school, so he knew the game.
You are not getting through to these guys. They are kinda like religious persons. Logic and facts don't get to them. They are brainwashed at a young age to see their sports persons as supra humans, demigods and the next step on the athletic evolution. Not just people who excel athleticly and are good at their particular sport.
 
Dude we get it. America has some awesome athletes no doubt, you are probably one if not the greatest sports country in the world. But there are other athletes out there that are as good or better because as great as your nation is in sports, you are not greater than the whole world combined. lol
I have to agree with that. I just get tired of the anti-NFL (there are so many posts around here.)
And soccer has big ballers for sure, and rugby as well. And when it comes to Motosports that a whole other story, America just cannot compete Europe for sure.
 
3) I would say obesity and A level athleticism can be accomplished. Although rare it does happen there are some tremendous tackles that are Hall of Famers because of athleticism like Larry Allen (Cowboys)

I agree. Also, Larry Allen was a stud. A big fat A level athlete. I'll die on that hill. Crazy combination of size, strength, speed, and balance.

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I agree. Also, Larry Allen was a stud. A big fat A level athlete. I'll die on that hill. Crazy combination of size, strength, speed, and balance.

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That play against the Saints is still amazing after all these years!
 
Mitrione had a career total of two tackles and two assisted tackles. So four if you feel generous. He was a bottom tier NFL player, though better than Brendan Schaub. He achieved much more in MMA, and although I never considered him elite in MMA, he's had a respectable career. I always liked the guy.
I'm actually going to guess that's it's harder to make an NFL roster and get 4 tackles in the regular season than it is to get 4 UFC wins at HW
 
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