I wouldn’t say the talent pool of guys in the NFL is small. I guess it’s a question of what the pool of guys that are on the fringe of the NFL is. That is, guys that don’t really make it big but make a pretty good living at it.
Flipcollar are yo suggesting that because football is drug tested that the athletes are clean? I think thats as big an assumption as saying Eddie is a gifted athlete that could probably have excelled at many sports. I also don’t think being a pro strongman puts you on Eddie Halls level in strongman either. Eddie might have been able to make an nfl team but not been an elite tackle, just as an elite tackle might do well in strongman but that doesn’t guarentee an arnold classic, wsm win or a lifting record. Eddie holds a WR in rowing to, isn’t that more of an explosive/endurance move?
Is Eddie Hall the greatest athlete? Surely not but I think a large part of that is because he trained to be a static monster and put on tons of size.
I am of the opinion that if baseball, hockey, basketball, and football didn’t exist, USA would be #1 in the world in soccer, hands down, just like the women’s team.
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I am of the opinion that NHL players are better all-around athletes than world-class soccer players. Soccer players aren’t even in the conversation for me because they lack the strength aspect I consider necessary to be considered an all-around athlete. I’m sure most could get there if they trained for it, but they’d already be doing that if it made sense for soccer.
You don’t see NHL athleticism manifest the same way as other sports, especially since most people can’t relate to actually playing it. Those guys are all strong as hell with amazing conditioning and explosive power. I’m sure there’s plenty of guys capable of squatting 500+ in the NHL. I doubt there are many at all who couldn’t squat double bodyweight right out of the box.
It might be the highest effort major pro sport on a minute by minute basis too. That’s why the shifts are so short. The level of effort necessary to compete simply cannot be sustained for long periods by any human.
I think other sports (including soccer) draw away non-Canadians with higher athletic potential, but the process of becoming an NHL player will almost inevitably produce an athlete who is very well-rounded. Maybe not the most well-rounded, but moreso than soccer players.
Lol. No one has suggested that. Stop getting your knickers in a twist because not everyone agrees with you.
I doubt it. You guys can’t even get the name right for starters. 
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He definitely makes a strong claim for being one of the worlds best all-round athletes. I suspect whatever kind of physical head-to-head testing you set up, he’d fare pretty well.
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Your argument here is about as strong as this guy
Its great that rugby league/union guys here are getting a mention here, funnily enough SBW was never the best athlete in the game or even in his position during his two stints in league.
I cant comment much on Union as I never really watched many matches bar Wallabies games, but id put a few League players above SBW in regards to his athleticism in his league career.
Id argue to put guys like Jason Taumalolo, Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Sam Burgess, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tiquiri, hell even Paul Gallen who SBW seems to want to avoid in boxing as well.
In your opinion, Do you think the fact that he excelled at two similar sports makes him a better athlete than Guys who stayed in their respective sport and rose to “legend/superstar” status?
Simulations are at a high rate in soccer, because the penalties are harsh. If this guy is able to get the oponent red carded he basically wins the game for his team. There are now video assistance to help refs and things like that are already happening less often.
I love how Americans make fun of soccer, while soccer is the sport producing the highest rate of injuries, much higher than fight sports as well. But hwy whatever soccer players are not strong.
I will actually look in the evening for some strength training videos of professional soccer players to prove they lower bodies are pretty fucking strong.
I’m not American. I’m British
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I know why they do it, and I wasn’t criticising soccer, I was criticising your shitty attempt at argument by generalisation.
I wasn’t actually critical of soccer at all, anywhere. I simply stated why i thought that, despite their prowess in certain aspects of athleticism, they failed to meet the criteria of ‘well-rounded’ and, on balance, lost to athletes in other sports where the speed and agility and similar, but other elements of athleticism are much more prominently demonstrated.
So what you are saying is, you are going to continue to disregard every other view point put forward in this ‘discussion’ and look for a few specific data points that reinforce your preconception? Sounds about right.
Well yeah: soccer players are very fragile. The video shows that.
Kinda like how falling down produces TONS of injuries among the elderly.
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You know you done goofed when TP turns to flat out trolling.
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For some reason, soccer seems to attract the most Rippetoe-like fans of any other sport.
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Well, these are the fans that will literally beat, bludgeon and even stab other people for liking the ‘wrong’ 11 players. Even if every one of those 11 players used to be on their team. Never has there been a better illustration of tribalism
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You’ve put forward some great suggestions there. 
Inglis is (or was) a freak of nature, to be that size yet have that speed and agility, incredible. One of his cousins is Albert Kelly, whom I’ve seen plenty of over this side of the world the last few years, what a player.
In answer to your question, absolutely not, no. It certainly doesn’t automatically make him a better/more well-rounded athlete than the guys who have remained in league, or their respective code/sport. It is, however, a tangible piece of evidence to demonstrate a certain level of athleticism. Different sports (and codes I suppose) require different physical traits, less so with league vs union but it’s certainly the case with rugby vs boxing. I just find it very impressive that he’s managed to excel across all 3, although that’s subjective.
I’ve explained it terribly but I’m rushing to reply on my lunch-break!
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Seriously???
Some are, some aren’t. It’s certainly not as important in football as it is in many other sports.
Some of these guys have strong lower bodies, some really don’t. Very few have strong lower bodies compared to most rugby players though.
And if you upload the Shearer leg extension scene from Goal… 
Let’s not tar us all with the same brush, eh?
Apologies if I did, I was relying on the context of Punisher’s post, indicating football attracted this sort, not that they were all this sort, to mean that I clearly wasn’t talking about all of them. But it’s not exactly uncommon.
Shouldn’t have warned him, that would have been classic.