Would NFL players still be hilarious obese if they played more?

[Asher]

This always struck me as odd...for such a slow-paced game with all the standing around that football has...why do they only play a handful of games?

Compared to hockey and baseball their schedule is pathetic. Why?

[Ninot]

baseball has even more standing around

most hockey players will tell you that the season is just a prolonged afair of killing their bodies.

and as it is, football players often retire with their bodies as broken down shells of what they used to be.

[Asher]

That says more about their diet and athleticism than anything else.

[SlowwHand]

No, it has more to do with getting your dick knocked in the dirt most plays.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Ninot
and as it is, football players often retire with their bodies as broken down shells of what they used to be.

Indeed. Incredibly violent game with players needing a week to recover from all their aches and pains. A lot of players can hardly walk the next day after a game. And after they retire it can really be bad.. especially for offensive or defensive linemen.

[Asher]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
No, it has more to do with getting your dick knocked in the dirt most plays.

Dirt is soft. As is all of that gear.

[SlowwHand]

Dirt is soft? That may be, unless it's on top of ground.

[Asher]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Dirt is soft? That may be, unless it's on top of ground.

Go ahead and get knocked down by a man running 5 miles an hour onto dirt and compare it to getting knocked down by a man skating 30 miles an hour onto ice.

Dirt is soft.

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer this question; it's like asking if hockey players would still be mentally retarded if they didn't fight so much. It's possible, but how would you test the theory?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer this question; it's like asking if hockey players would still be mentally retarded if they didn't fight so much. It's possible, but how would you test the theory?

By watching pansy European hockey...

[Lorizael]

So do you expect real answers, Asher, or just bites?

[Arrian]

The appropriate comparison re: schedule is rugby. The set-piece nature of the game itself is why there are those big fat linemen. You don't see fat wide receivers, because those guys have to run on every play (that they're in for).

-Arrian

[Asher]

Originally posted by Lorizael
So do you expect real answers, Asher, or just bites?

There are no real answers other than these guys are, by and large, out of shape.

[snoopy369]

Hmm, well still mentally retarded... so apparently it's an element of hockey

Seriously though, play football for a while. It's not as pansy as you think it is, by far.

Not only are you being THROWN to the ground at much more than 5 mph, but it's happening EVERY play for three hours. The only ones who aren't being thrown to the ground, are the ones who are sprinting at around a 5.0 second 40m dash every play. Suicides anyone?

Hockey is certainly hard on the body, and probably harder than football given the 3 games a week on average they play ... but not that much harder, and certainly not harder game per game. Don't you think that if football COULD have more than 16 games a year they would, given how much money they make? If they held 32 games a year, they'd probably nearly double their intake of what's already by far the most monetarily successful sport out there...

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by Asher

There are no real answers other than these guys are, by and large, out of shape.

This is NOT true. Football players are in far, far better shape than most athletes. Lineman may be 300 pounds, but it's muscle, not fat. Still not good for them - their hearts aren't any bigger or stronger, for the most part - but they're extremely strong guys. And that's only the linemen; the rest of the team are much smaller, 200-250 pounds (and less for some WRs) and extremely lean muscular types. Brian Urlacher probably has at most 5 pounds of fat on his body, and for the life of me I don't know where he puts it.

Baseball players are fat (ie, the Puckster). Football players are NOT fat.