What is the toughest major team sport in the world in terms of physical punishment?

Originally posted by GoldenJoe:

Born and raised in Montreal, hockey and it's not all that close guys.

Toughest sport in my opinion, toughest players as well. This is obviously a unique case but Patrice Bergeron a few years back, 2013 IIRC, played game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Hawks with a rib injury that included a cartilage tear, a punctured lung and a separated shoulder that he suffered in Game 6. Went to the hospital after game 7 obviously but still played the game.

I've seen multiple guys get hit with sticks or pucks, gashed open, teeth missing, chunks of skin, separated shoulders and want to come back right after being stitched up or having their arms popped back in. Some cases they had to be held out but plenty of guys play through enormous pain.

Nat Fyfe from the Freemantle Dockers played the 2015 AFL preliminary final with a broken leg. The fans also beat the crap out of each other (Freemantle fans vs Freemantle fans) and managed to keep watching the game.

I think the toughest major team sport in the world is wrestling:

Leaping Leno Popo and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat Vs Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf

Originally posted by Strine49:

Nat Fyfe from the Freemantle Dockers played the 2015 AFL preliminary final with a broken leg. The fans also beat the crap out of each other (Freemantle fans vs Freemantle fans) and managed to keep watching the game.

I think the toughest major team sport in the world is wrestling:

Leaping Leno Popo and Ricky the Dragon Steamboat Vs Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorf

[/left] Nah! The undertaker, batiste, cena, the rock, the big show and jarryd hayne heh heh

Allblacks vs france 1986, Buck Shelford an allblack number 8, a french player ripped his testicles with spikes on his boots, shelford told the medico to sew his ballbag up then continued on playing, he got hit again causing concussion, he continued playing, the french were playing dirty that day as they always do, and then finally shellford got another whack later on in the game which finally knocked him out, the allblacks lost that game, but the ever resilient fan to this day calls out Bring Back Buck!!!

Originally posted by sacniner:

The athletes in American Football are bigger, faster and stronger than anyone else. If those guys played with no pads people would be killed.

Rugby is bada55, but the athletes don't match. There may be one guy, maybe, on each team that is a freak like VD or PWilly. Huge and really fast and athletic. This is the reason why American Football can only be played in the USA. No other country has athletes that can match.

[left] Ummm they do match because if u play rugby youll lose 20 - 40 kilos as its an endurance sport

Not a valid poll until Hurling is included



Some seriously tough guys play this. But saying that, NFL/Rugby would have to top any list.
Rugby probably takes it due to the *continuous nature of the game and where the offense guys (and even the kicker ) have to be equally good on defense.

*continuous as in you have to grind it out without time to rest, say like in Boxing/MMA...not soccer like the someone mentioned earlier

Originally posted by dmack:

Allblacks vs france 1986, Buck Shelford an allblack number 8, a french player ripped his testicles with spikes on his boots, shelford told the medico to sew his ballbag up then continued on playing, he got hit again causing concussion, he continued playing, the french were playing dirty that day as they always do, and then finally shellford got another whack later on in the game which finally knocked him out, the allblacks lost that game, but the ever resilient fan to this day calls out Bring Back Buck!!!

Rugby is soft compared to rugby league (Jarryd Haynes game).

Sorry fas33 but because of occupational, health and safety laws and insurance premiums skyhigh all footy codes today are weak compared to the old days.

Turkish prison

/threat

Played 10 years of Rugby Union, bit of a dabble with league and a few kick arounds of AFL. Only American football I've played is flag so no contact.

Even though I think I can say NFL is definitely the top IMO when it comes to physical punishment. You just have to look at what happens to some players after their careers, the kinds of career ending injuries some players get and the issues with concussions etc. The people who say padding and helmets make NFL players are soft are idiots. It's like the difference between MMA and boxing. Gloves actually end up causing more damage because you can swing harder and cause more internal injuries while breaking less bones/shedding less blood. Helmets and pads are there to protect the tackler... not the tacklee. All the better to pinball someone's brain around or hyperextend their knee. A league or union player making an NFL style hit is going to put them both in hospital.

League comes close but even then the really massive hits are kind of a thing of the past - and a good thing too. You can flatten a guy without nearly killing him and he'll still remember it the next day.

Union is maybe next... a Union scrum is pretty insane - my spine will vouch for that but we don't tackle like morons so really big clashes are rarer.

AFL is possibly the worst for breaks and muscle injuries as they're flailing around a lot but they're endurance players, not power hitters. (Incendentally, all three 'Australian' codes leave NFL for dead when it comes to endurance. That's the biggest difference.)

Haven't got a clue about hockey so I'll leave it off.

American Football, unfortunately the best evidence is how players end up after they retire, it probably maims more guys long term than all the others on the poll list combined.

When it comes down to it, its how many are taking painkillers over time during playing career and retirement, because everyone will be suffering constant pain and arthritis at a young age.

Considering that at least 85% of its participants take a literal pounding in the ass, id say figure skating.

Softball

Twiddly winks

MMA