Thats simply not true.
I have played both (admittedly not to a massively high level) and I would just say they are very different. There’s a reason no rugby player has succeeded in NFL - its because each NFL player has spent a lot of his career perfecting the skills for that position and that position only. There are a load of skills that are required that just aren’t in rugby.
And vice versa.
It is interesting to see US football fans see Rugby for the first time though 
Generally they’re amazed and love it.
I think Chewy was suggesting American football stops for lots of commercials, so the players get regular breaks, whereas the same is not true of rugby. I don’t watch it, so don’t know if that is accurate or not.
Without going into personal likings or dislikes, I believe American Football is way more about physical explosive efforts, and there is hardly any continuation to tackles (besides a fumbled ball into an opponent hands, I believe). Rugby has a lot more continuity of play, and tackles are hardly ever causing the game to stop. Rugby requires to know how to play from man on the floor, line ups, scrums…
Players in AF are way more specialized into a particular role, to the point of having two squads, one defensive, one for offence. Rugby players do all that all the time, defending and attacking. I don’t take away merits to American Football, but saying it is Rugby with armour is way too simplistic.
To put it bluntly, out of a game of American Football I can see 2 minutes of highlights and it is most of the game action from a couple of hours. The game action in rugby is easily 80% or 90% of the 80 minutes (in a game that a team want to stop a lot a la South Africa, maybe 70%?).
I think all these games (American football, both rugby codes, Aussie Rules, Gaelic football - are there more?) are clearly all related, and it’s interesting to see what’s stayed similar and in what ways to they’ve diverged.
And none of them are anywhere near as good a game as actual football…!
I agree with the differences - rugby with armour is equally not true. But you said that rugby requires the same sort of skills to an umpteenth level. I just didn’t think that is true - they are just very different skills.
Now that really IS delusional!!! 
His actual words were “the same sort of skills, plus stamina…to the umpteenth level”. Again, I think he is saying the same kind of skills are needed, plus “stamina to the umpteenth level.”
Yes thats fair - I may be misreading it. Yes the stamina required is very different. In NFL, its explosive power, giving it 100% but only for 30 seconds at a time. Rugby is much more probably 50-60% effort, with periods of much more, across 80 mins. Although with the way scrums are going these days, there is a fair bit of rest time!
It’s amazing how well American football can be adapted to simulations, like Statis Pro Football. it generates so many figures and statistics that you can very nearly recreate what happened in a season, assuming you have the stamina.
He really ought to learn that, in theory, you CAN lateral in NFL too! Its just so rarely done because the plays aren’t built to have support players like rugby is.
I know the French and NZ Rugby FAs are pushing against this, trying to encourage less stoppage.
Mind you, when I played rugby I played as a lock, and I never managed to rest in a scrum. It was bloody hard work! If anything, of all the team sports I played (that includes basketball, voleyball, handball, football/footsal and rugby) I’d say the one that had my stamina put to the test was rugby. I thought I was running non stop for 80 minutes every game. On top of getting a big walloping.
I was a prop so I know what you mean about the scrums - I was only making a joke about the resets!
Yes, you are moving a lot in rugby (although as a prop, I obviously only ran if I had to…), but you don’t run full pelt for the full 80. Which is why I said you’re probably going at 50-60% of max effort for a lot of the game - jogging into position, following the ball. Its only if there is a break that all hell breaks loose and everyone runs at 100% to either follow and support the ball carrier or get back into the defensive line. Oh and goal line defence. That IS crazy tiring.
I think the forward pass is just about the least interesting portion of NFL football (most people disagree with me). Having a well-rounded offensive backfield is way more interesting.
An amazing long bomb that is just unbelievably pinpoint accurate is amazing, but I agree - I’ve always loved watching the running game. Sadly, I only ever played lineman! (Usually defensive tackle/noseguard but sometimes O-line if required - squads in Britball weren’t usually huge!)
Aaaaaanyway, we’ve probably talked too much about NFL. Maybe we ought to have a sports thread in Not Games.
Only on this forum would sports be under “not games”. Awesome!
Ha! I’d not thought of it like that!
Oooh, which makes me return to a philosophical question: what’s the difference between a sport and a game?
By most definitions I’ve seen, Jenga is a sport and most “recreational activity” style “sports” are not.
Crokinole? TIddlywinks? Ice skating?
direct confrontation; whole body use…
I suspect that to argue over definitions risks ignoring that some of it is just how influential the lobby was when it came to getting it considered for the Olympics or whatever.