I think everyone can agree that the version of football we know and love here in the good ol' U-S-of-A is a violent sport. 300-plus pound men in helmets and pads running full throttle into one another in an attempt to put one in the win column for their team. When you take away the pads and helmets, but keep the speed and violent hits, you get Australian Rules Football.

While it looks a lot like what we in America consider Rugby, there apparently are some slight differences between the two sports when it comes to the rules and game play. Regardless, it takes a tough (and possibly insane) guy to play either sport.

As you'll see in the video below, there are several differences between our version of football and theirs. I won't get into all of them (mainly because I don't know all of them), but for starters our version appears more organized before the play begins. Both teams come to the line of scrimmage with each player in his predetermined area whereas the Australian version appears to be more chaotic. It's like American football and soccer hooked up at a club one night resulting in this freaky love-child.

One other glaring difference is contact between players as the ball is in play. In our version, defenders are not allowed to touch receivers after five yards into their route or do anything that prohibits the receivers ability to catch the ball. On the flip side, a receiver cannot use the defender as a stepping stone in order to make the catch. As Jeremy Howe of the Australian Football League proved in a game earlier this week, that rule does not exist "down under".

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