There are significant differences between American football and football in terms of equipment, game time, etc. The specific differences are as follows:
EquipmentIn order to prevent injury, American football players usually have steel helmets, shoulder armor, breastplate, shoulder pads, elbow pads, hip pads, knee pads, thigh pads, hand guards, shin guards, etc., and a pair of wireless headphones must be added to the helmet. Rugby players don't need to be covered with a sponge, they just need to wear their usual team jersey and put braces in their mouths.
Game time: An American football game is 60 minutes divided into 4 quarters of 15 minutes each. Between the first and second quarters, there is a short 2-minute break, while between the first quarter there is a long break of 20 minutes. A rugby game takes 80 minutes and there are only two halves in total, with a 10-minute break between halves.
Number of players: American football has 11 players on each side, of which 4 are defenders, 7 are forwards, and there can be 3 substitutes "in case of contingency". Rugby, on the other hand, has 15 players per team, with 8 strikers and 7 defenders.
Cultural differences: Europeans describe rugby as a "gentleman's savage sport" and American football as a "barbarian man's savage sport", an assessment that reflects attitudes and perceptions of both sports in different cultural contexts.
with a ball size: American football is much smaller than the English ball.
To sum up, although American football and rugby both belong to the rugby family, there are obvious differences in terms of equipment and other aspects. These differences reflect the uniqueness that the two have developed in different countries and regions, as well as their place and significance in their respective cultures.