NFL in Rugby?

Question

If we took our most athletic NFL players (Vick, Tomlinson etc..) and put together a Rugby team, let them practice for a year or so, how well do you think they would do vs. the best Rugby teams in the World? (Australia, England, New Zealand etc...)

I'm not considering time lost in the NFL, that is irrelevant for this question...

Answer 1

they would be ok, but rugby is less about strength and more about stamina and tactics

Answer 2

I think the biggest question is....

Would the Americans understand the game?

BTW England is definately not one of the top rugby teams any longer.

Answer 3

they would get rolled by a rugby team they are not fit enough. there is no way they could play offence an defence for 2 forty min with only 1  break. they cant even play 1 of them (offence/dfence) for 2 mins with out stopping the game and having a breather

Answer 4

They might fair pretty good

Answer 5

I don't know who Vick is, but I doubt he would succeed.  Or any other Gridiron players for that matter.

He has no grounding in the game and would therefore be lost.

An experiment was tried some thirty years ago.  A guy called Manfred Moore played a few games in the NRL, with mixed success.  Some plays he was awesome and others he was totally lost.  Moore was interviewed recently about it and said he enjoyed his time in the NRL, but Gridiron is his game.

It would be like Ian Thorpe sprinting against Michael Johnson or Michael Johnson swimming against Ian Thorpe.  Both fantastic athletes in their field.  And that is where they belong.  

Vick and his mates can stay in Gridiron and Matt Giteau and Stirling Mortlock can stick to Rugby

Answer 6

Now that is a good wish...emphasize on the word "wish". You cannot just take the most talented NFL players and train them for a year to meet the very best. You want them to get murdered. It's true that they are also considered tough athletes (NFL) but given the circumstances they  probably wouldn't even beat the US rugby team. Majority of the world's top rugby players have been playing from a very young age and a full year isn't enough time to meet the criteria or even think about playing the top teams in rugby. Cut things short, They wouldn't last but will put up a tough fight (for the first fifteen minutes).

Answer 7

They might manage to beat Scotland ;-)

But seriously, they wouldn't stand a chance against any of the top 10 nations.

Quote from someone above:

"The sheer size of american football players is overpowring in the scrums"

I'd just like to point out to our American friends that there is a LOT more to scrummaging than size......... when I made the switch from hooker to tighthead prop, a lot of people thought I wouldn't make it, as I only weighed 95kg (5ft 9"). I proved them wrong!!!! Technique has a huge impact in scrummaging, as any front rower will tell you.

Answer 8

You could hardly get an NFL player to sign autographs for three hours getting paid what these ruggers make in a year. I'm pretty sure! I think the NBA might actually be better at the rugby than the NFL, for their size, athleticism and endurance especially!

Answer 9

There are some very good athletes in the NFL, but 1 year is not enough to get them up to international standard. I think the players with the best chance of success would be defensive players, linebackers, corners and safeties. Offensive players are not used to tackling so much, and rugby has a lot of tackling. The other major problem would be substitutions. In rugby you can't come in and out of the game, so NFL players would have to get used to all that time spent on the field. But there is definitely the talent to play play rugby. The games are just too different to convert quickly.

Answer 10

I think the biggest problem that would still exist after a year would be one thing!!!!!!!

Passing...

The whole mindset of the passing game in rugby is soooooo different and most NFL players don't pass the ball at all and more than half rarely handle a ball ever.   2 years of quality coaching and playing quality teams.  

Most of the other aspects of play could be picked up in a year because of the athletic abilities.  Kicking may not be the best either.  (the kickers in the NFL rarly see contact - take note any good kickers that play rugby looking for a high paying job you can do at any age)

Answer 11

ooo good question actully i dont think the qb's wouldnt do all that well but the line men and running back would probaly dominate that is if they can take a hit with out pads the sheer size of american football players is overpowring in the scrums and i could see some of our running backs just flat out running over the top of some of the rugby guys the quater backs would really have no use but if the team was made outta end and backs and a few linemen for good measure i think they would own provided they got a years of practice in

Answer 12

It would be a pathetic display. With only a year of practice, the americans would be just starting to understand the tactics of the game. Whereas whichever team you put against them would tackle just as hard (or harder) run just as fast, and understand the game far better.

The NFL players would probably make a good B side, but athleticism and strength are secondary to tactical knowledge.

Answer 13

They wouldn't have a chance.  A professional rugby player can take up 10000 hours of training to get to a national standard.  Also rugby is a very fast flowing sport unlike the stop/start regime in a American football, it would take alot of getting used to.