So you have to provide sources for speculation now? Like if I said "I wouldn't be surprised if chocolate ice cream was more widely loved than vanilla", I'd have to back it up with evidence? Gain some semantic common sense, than try and call out somebody for not having sources.

People can play rugby at like 60.

At 60 the average NFL player is dead.

http://www.seattlepi.com/football/362412_nflhealth09.html

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2005/10/linemen_size_continues

Football causes more deaths than gridiron. I provided sources in my first link. I back up my words with hard facts. If you can't counter this with sources proving that playing professional gridiron is 'more fatal' than playing professional Football..
mrstickball's "LOL at the list of dead footballlers. I think that many died from American football in it's first few formative years alone." is nothing but a mere outburst. However if you are able to provide sources, you will be able to prove me wrong.

I've noticed that both of you are from the usa. Statistically most of your friends and family probably are into local sports (ie. gridiron) and not world sports. Statistically 'our' friends and relatives have a greater knowledge of world sports than U.S. local sports. Effectively this means that we (the whole world) get to hear a lot more facts about global sports. We Europeans, South Americans, North Americans, Africans and Asians are more aware of what's going on globally than the average us citizen and we've aquired huge amounts of Football knowledge throughout our lifes. Many of the Football documentaries me and my friends have been watching, states that fatal incidents is far more common in Football than it is in gridiron.

I've already looked into the issue at hand. I've been reading statistics and in addition I provide sources (listed within the wiki article) I've done my part.

NFL:

Includes players who left the NFL for active military service .

• Jeff Alm, DT, Houston Oilers, suicide, 1993 not relevant
• Ralph Anderson, WR, San Diego Chargers, diabetic reaction, 1960 not relevant
• Eric Andolsek, OG, Detroit Lions, car accident, 1992 not relevant
• Troy Archer, DE, New York Giants, car accident, 1979 not relevant
• Brad Beckman, TE, Atlanta Falcons, car accident, 1989 not relevant
• Al Blades, S, San Francisco 49ers, car accident, 2003 not relevant
• Leon Bender, DT, Oakland Raiders, seizure, 1998 relevant?
• Al Blozis, OT, New York Giants, died in World War II, 1945 not relevant
• Jerome Brown, DT, Philadelphia Eagles, car accident, 1992 not relevant
• Brandon Burlsworth, OL, Indianapolis Colts, car accident, 1999 not relevant
• J.V. Cain, TE, St. Louis Cardinals, heart attack, 1979 relevant?
• Rusty Chambers, LB, Miami Dolphins, car accident, 1980 not relevant
• Marquis Cooper, LB, Oakland Raiders, lost at sea, 2009 not relevant
• David Croudip, DB, Atlanta Falcons, drug overdose, 1988 not relevant
• Rodney Culver, RB, San Diego Chargers, plane crash, 1996 not relevant
• Shane Curry, DL, Indianapolis Colts, homicide, 1992 not relevant
• Ernie Davis, Syracuse RB, leukemia, 1963 (Played pre-season game with Cleveland Browns) not relevant
• Joe Delaney, RB, Kansas City Chiefs, drowned trying to save 3 children in a pond, 1983 not relevant
• Bo Farrington, TE, Chicago Bears, car accident, 1964 not relevant
• Willie Galimore, RB, Chicago Bears, car accident, 1964 not relevant
• Blenda Gay, DE, Philadelphia Eagles, homicide, 1976 not relevant
• Howard Glenn, OG, New York Titans, neck injury, 1960 relevant?
• Larry Gordon, LB, Miami Dolphins, heart attack while jogging, 1983 not relevant
• David Griggs, LB, San Diego Chargers, car accident, 1995 not relevant
• Thomas Herrion, G, San Francisco 49ers, Ischaemic heart disease, 2005 relevant?
• Mack Lee Hill, FB, Kansas City Chiefs, pulmonary embolism, 1965 relevant?
• Marquise Hill, DE, New England Patriots, drowned, 2007 not relevant
• Chuck Hughes, WR, Detroit Lions, heart attack during a game, 1971 relevant
• Stone Johnson, RB, Kansas City Chiefs, neck injury, 1963 relevant?
• Bob Kalsu, OL, Buffalo Bills, killed in Vietnam War, 1970 not relevant
• Fred Lane, RB, Carolina Panthers, homicide, 2000 not relevant
• Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb, DT, Pittsburgh Steelers, drug overdose, 1963 not relevant
• Stan Mauldin, T, Chicago Cardinals, heart attack, 1948 relevant?
• Damien Nash, RB, Denver Broncos, collapsed and died after a charity basketball game, 2007 relevant
• Ralph Norwood, OT, Atlanta Falcons, car accident, 1989 not relevant
• David Overstreet, RB, Miami Dolphins, car accident, 1984 not relevant
• Brian Piccolo, FB, Chicago Bears, embryonal cell carcinoma, 1970 relevant?
• Don Rogers, FS, Cleveland Browns, drug overdose, 1986 not relevant
• Corey Smith, DE, Detroit Lions, lost at sea, 2009 not relevant
• Dave Sparks, DT, Washington Redskins, heart attack, 1954  relevant?
• Andy Spiva, LB, Atlanta Falcons, car accident, 1978 not relevant
• Korey Stringer, OT, Minnesota Vikings, heat stroke during practice, 2001 relevant
• Sean Taylor, FS, Washington Redskins, homicide, 2007 not relevant
• Derrick Thomas, LB, Kansas City Chiefs, complications from a spinal cord injury suffered in a car accident, 2000 not relevant
• Pat Tillman, DB, Arizona Cardinals, killed in war in Afghanistan, 2004 not relevant
• Stacey Toran, DB, Los Angeles Raiders, car accident, 1989 not relevant
• Eric Turner, DB, Oakland Raiders, stomach cancer, 2000 not relevant
• Dave Waymer, DB, Los Angeles Raiders, Heart attack, 1993 relevant?
• Darrent Williams, CB, Denver Broncos, homicide, 2007 not relevant

Short term on the field deaths.

However what's the average lifespan of a soccer player?

Football builds up more permanent and long term damage.  Not to mention you have to putyourself in an unhealthy condition just to play.  (How big you get.)

How many active worldwide soccer players are there that contributed to your list, GamingChartz?

Unless I'm thinking wrong, the NFL is a bit smaller than professional soccer worldwide...

If I dedicate time and effort and decide to search through the internet compiling a list of Football players who have gotten their lifespan drastically shortened, it would still be 'proportianally longer' than a similar gridiron list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid_use_in_American_football

Most NFL players shorten their lifes due to 'high risk lifestyles'. There seem to be a disproportionate amount of murders, car accidents, drinking, drug use etc., compared to the average population. It is very unfortunate.

Kasz216

You're right about the "you have to putyourself in an unhealthy condition just to play.  (How big you get.)" part.
The focus on 'building up' the thorax and abdomen with fat and muscles, causes long term problems when the players are unable to 'alter' their bodies back to normal after they finish their professional careers. It's a sad thing to see all the fat slobs in interviews. How people choose to live their lives after ending their NFL careers does not relate to how dangerous it is playing the game.

I'm looking forward to continuing this discussion. Bye bye for now..

I love how you go and call any of our opinions on sports ethnocentric, biased, and generally ignorant because we are Americans and thus "only exposed to football", yet then base your own arguments on a claim that, by your logic, you should not have the experience or knowledge to make. That's a stereotype, jackass. Enjoy being pretentious in your reply.

Also "what I was doing" in my last post was providing a logical analogue to stickball's statement: His original claim was that he "thinks" football had that many deaths, you do not have to back up something that you think with empirical data.

Look, argue it any way you want, American Football is a contact sport with a high risk of paralyzing or lifeending spinal injury at any time. It may not me as physically taxing as soccer/football, but I do not doubt that it has proportionally more injuries as well as proportionally worse ones.

I don't cycle but I admire the stamina cyclist have in the Tour de France.

The most demanding sport? Online multiplayer in Halo 3.

Not only do you have to be extremely talented to take on the pros, but you have to kill them in such a way that you can always, always teabag them thoroughly (and maybe knock around their body) before they have the chance to respawn (so their screen is watching you). Being on the receiving end of that, and helplessly watching your dead body being raped, is mentally traumatizing.

It physically and mentally is more demanding than any other sport. The average life expectancy of a player is about 5 seconds.

Teabagging is practically an artform. If I wasn't so tired right now I'd make an awesome thread right now about this topic.

I've had some good laughs in this topic, so far that, I thank you.

On topic, I'd say long distance running.
If your sport is the disciplinary consequence in other sports, it's probably pretty freaking hard.

Through personal experience, it is by far the most demanding sport physically and - surprisingly - mentally I have ever played.