Chiefs, this was started as a "pick on the silly Yanks game" thread, and you've just ruined my cunning plan by injecting some logic
But I'm sure Skunky will soon change that
Meanwhile, it's true that it's difficult to choose a BEST OF here because the codes are very different and require a range of player types. I can see that American Football requires really big guys to act as blockers. But a couple of those Colts guys looked like they had no muscles at all and were just overweight kids. That said, I wouldn't like one of them to grab hold of me after I had just told them that
With the exception of American Football I have played all of these games, albeit only at High School level, and found that Rugby League contained the best aspects of the ideal football game.
For example
* League has fewer halts in play than either Union or American Football.
* League is an easy game to watch because you only need to concentrate on the player with the ball as he's the only person that can be physically contacted. With American Football the players make an effort to disguise who has the ball making the game difficult to follow. Rugby Union becomes very messy and amatuerist at times because of its mauls and rucks.
* Tackles in League are usually harder than in either Union or Aussie Rules. American Football has relatively hard tackles and blocks but the players are wearing much more protective gear which also tends to restrict their movement and speed.
* League is also the better sport in regards to fitness and toughness. It's true that Australian Rules and Soccer players are most likely the fittest players in these codes because the playing fields in both games are large and both games require heaps of running and stamina. However neither of these two games require the physical strength that League demands. Size appears to be the main factor in American Football with only the scoring players requiring speed, stamina and agility.