So Football should remain as football and not ’soccer’, a typical yank idea for an unnecessary change to appease the thickos that, heaven forbid, would have to deal with 2 games called ‘football’.

There is big differences between all 3 sports, football you can only play the ball with your feet and head and you basically have to be a namby pamby fruit who feels the need to fall over at the meer touch of another players flowing locks, it is imperative that you spit and you must be, above all, able to roll around the floor for minutes at a time encouraging the referee to send someone from the opposition off for breathing on your neck for too long.
Equally the difference between rugby and american football can be accredited the same thought process, in rugby union, or indeed rugby league, the players, although all shapes and sizes (from speedy wingers to grizzly prop forwards) work hard on their physique, for they know that for 80 minutes, non stop, during the game, they will have to deal with their opposite numbers running at them, time after time after time. wheras in american football, although similarities can be seen in the players physiques, the mincie, safety conscious, pampered stars on show wear so much padding and guards, that any chance of physical contact is utterly nullified. did i mention they wear helmets!
in summary, all 3 are vastly different, football is played by 8 stone girls, american football is played by 18 stone girls and rugby (union or league) is played by 18 stone beer swilling, head crushing, collision seeking, pain searching, legends Ricky Armstrong

It was a peasure to have these players on the team….there was no easy route for them…they were mentally and physically tough. If you want to do it, go for it. irishpasta

Three differences are critical — the rugby offside rule, the different way that the breakdown/tackle situations are handled, and the substitution rules.

Blocking (either as pass protection or in opening up running lanes) is absolutely fundamental to every single play in an American football (or girdiron) game. It is illegal in rugby. Offensive players must be behind the ball carrier to participate in play, and if they get between the ball carrier and a defender they are penalized for “obstruction”.

In American football they use the “downs-for-distance” system. Once the runner is down the ball is whistled dead and the two teams reset for another play. The offense has four of these “downs” to advance the ball ten yards. If they fail to do so, then they turn the ball over to the opposition. It also means the game is very “start-stop” — the ball is only “live” for about 12 minutes of a 60 minute match.

In rugby the breakdown in “contested”. A player taken off his feet has to release the ball. Any player (on either team) who is still on his feet may then pick up the ball and continue. The rules about how the ball must be released (and how players may compete for it) give the attacking team an advantage in keeping possession, but it is by no means a sure thing. Every tackle gives the defense a reasonable opportunity to turn the ball over and counter-attack.

It also has the effect of making play in rugby more or less continuous and much faster than in gridiron. As a result, rugby players need a lot more stamina, especially as substitutions are permanent. You dress 22 for a rugby match and fifteen start the game. That means that at least eight players are on the pitch for the entire match. Gridiron players may enter, leave and re-enter the game pretty much as they please at any break in the play. They dress 45 for a match, but only 11 are on the field at a given time.

The end result is that aside from running with the ball and tackling, the games have very little in common.

Edit Just so you know, Mr. Armstrong below is sadly incorrect in about every comment he makes — in both game play and history. And obviously has no knowledge whatsoever of the American game and its’ “downs-for-distance” system. The nature of the contact is different than in rugby — so much so that people got killed when they played without helmets. Sometimes they still do. blm