Quote:
Originally Posted by lukasberger
Do you think so? I'm curious as to why you think that might be the case? I feel like the opposite is true. That's with the proviso that although I'm a pretty au fait in regard to Rugby Union, I've only ever seen a couple Rugby League matches, and am probably still a bit hazy on it.
That being said, it seems to me that Rugy Union has more specialist positions, or non-all rounders, just as the NFL does and that the scrum more closely approximates the lines in American football than anything in Rugby League.
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League has the 'six tackle' rule - the offense is only allowed to be tackled five times, on the sixth tackle the ball is turned over - which are sort-of-a-little-bit like downs in gridiron (except you can't get more of them by going a certain distance). That's... er... that's about it.
As you say, you don't have an "O-Line/D-Line" equivalent, they're not even allowed to compete for the ball at the scrum. Players are specialised to a certain extent in terms of skill, but in terms of physicality and size/build they tend to be much more similar, because the forwards have to do a lot more running due to the pace of the game. You don't get the big lumbering fatties in the scrum like you do in Union (especially older Union) and NFL.
I'd argue that, despite all coming from the same place, these days League is less like American Football than Union is, other than the six tackle rule being a bit like downs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukasberger
They really aren't though. Not sure where you get that idea, but I don't think it's at all accurate.
Look at this list. Literally none of these guys are backup centers.
The giveaway is their weight. No NFL o-lineman would weight anything under 280ish at the absolute minimum. The heaviest of these guys is Tanner Purdum at 270.
I haven't bothered to look it up, but I would guess that literally none of these guys have ever played a snap at any position other than long-snapper, or another special teams spot, or possibly LB or TE in an emergency. Certainly not at center, or any other o-line position. If they have, it's only a tiny handful of snaps and it was in a dire emergency situation. |
They... they aren't? I just kinda assumed they would be. There are guys out there whose only job is to throw a football between their legs to a guy 15 yards away, a handful of times a week?
... brb, re-evaluating life choices.
Edit: Back.
I have a question. When they're in school, are they long-snappers then too? Were they just using it as an excuse to get on the football team? Or are they players who played a different position in college but weren't good enough for the NFL at that position, but realised they were quite good at long-snapping so tried out for that instead?
I'm genuinely shocked that with a limited roster size, teams waste one position on a guy who's only job is to snap special teams plays. I get why long snapping is important, don't get me wrong. I've seen Ace Ventura. ¬_¬ It just boggles my mind that the center can't do it himself to the point where you hire a whole different guy for whom it's his only job.
I guess it's sort of like a closer in baseball... you think he's got an easy job and you don't notice him until he screws it up, and then he's the worst guy in the world.