` :This isn't the perfect article to start with if you've no idea what either is like.  Rugby football would be better for that, or the article on either sport.  If someone were to write comparison of rugby and American football and comparison of rugby and association football, they would, to a very crude first approximation ultra-summary say ``no forward passes and stopping play after each phase, and scrums (and lineouts) instead of scrimmages`` and ``ball is handled and carried, with more than one way to score``, respectively.  But I wouldn't hold my breath for either, if I were you.  Alternatively. think of football as grandpappy, NFL as the grandson, and rugby is the ``missing transitional form``.    `