Which Sport Has the Toughest Players?

[Da Coach]

If soccer players are so tough, can you tell me why every soccer game features at least a player or several who go down with minimal contact, writhe for minutes on the ground like they have just been run over by a truck, have to be carried off the field on a stretcher (how many times have you ever seen a stretcher in football, hockey, basketball, or other sport), then get right back up on the sideline and come back in the game immediately?

I could concede that soccer players are pretty tough if I didn't see this happen in every game I have ever watched.

And come on, no soccer player ever runs for 90 minutes. They play on a huge field and they all get rest when the play is far away from them.

[amckillip]

Sorry, but soccer players are without a doubt on average tougher than american football. One of our captaiins played both and agreed. Each year several people die playing soccer. Soccer players have no pads, no protection, I saw one of my captain's femur stick 3 inches out the side of his leg during a game. The only time I've sen anything like that in football is theisman, and that was how long ago. I also saw someone get a skull fracture when he was shoved into a goal post during a corner kick. So before you say soccer players are pansies look into it a little bit. We don't wear helemts with full face guards, thigh pads, butt pads, chest pads, and shoulder pads.

And the reason you see strechers all the time is because the injuries are that serious. And about running 90, just compare that to the length of any other sport, and remember NO timeouts, No downs between plays, and you have a midfielder run against a player from any other sport and if hes half way decent I guaruntee he'll be able to run longer than that athlete.

[Da Coach]

Obviously you are not likely to change your mind, but athletes in nearly every sport have died, not just soccer. And soccer deaths are exceedingly rare, considering it is the sport played by more people worldwide than any other.

If the injuries that require players to be carried off the field on stretchers are so serious, then how can they always get up immediately and re-enter the game? I would respect soccer players a heck of a lot more if they just admitted they fake the injuries sometimes to get a blow. We all know they do.

[BI_Brave_alum]

1-football quarterbacks
2-football wide receivers
3-football linemen
4-rugby
5-Australian rules football
6-hockey
7-lacross
8-basketball

football qbs? are u serious, they get touched the wrong way and its roughing.. i'm not advocating that they need to get pulverized but defenses can't always stop on a dime b/c the qb has released the ball.

hockey is a very rough, demanding, skilled sport. 'toughness' is subjective. but what is interesting if any of you have read 'seabiscuit' (better than the movie) UCLA had done a study on the most fit athletes, and pound for pound, it was jockeys believe it or not..

[BradleyBrave]

Professional wrestlers. They perform 300+ days a year, with more contact that any other contact sport with no padding whatsoever. There is no offseason, no vacations, no holidays. Say what you will about pro wrestling, but those guys are as tough if not tougher than any athletes around.

[That Guy]

If the injuries that require players to be carried off the field on stretchers are so serious, then how can they always get up immediately and re-enter the game? I would respect soccer players a heck of a lot more if they just admitted they fake the injuries sometimes to get a blow. We all know they do.

No, we fake injuries to get calls. Just like any time a wide receiver gets touched without catching the ball will always call for pass interference. It doesn't make soccer players pansies, for every time they go down, they get hacked five times.

I'm not saying that soccer players are the toughest athletes in the world, I'm just saying we're not pansies. I would rank Aussie rules football players as tops. American football about fifth or sixth, behind soccer. Anybody can strap on ten pounds of pads, only work for maximum 10 seconds at a time and call themselves a tough guy. And yes, I have played both soccer and football competitively.