# What is the TOUGHEST job in sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 21, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894 "2020-07-21T03:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2020, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/63 "2020-08-06T08:28:43Z")
Color commentator at a curling match. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/64 "2020-08-08T03:32:27Z")
There used to be a soccer league for various age groups. Many of the teams were the sons of immigrants from various European countries that historically didn’t like each other. It was not uncommon to see parents fighting each other on the sidelines after a harsh tackle or undiplomatic comment. I wouldn’t have wanted to be the referee. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/65 "2020-08-08T03:44:02Z")
In all seriousness, though (since there are many tongue-in-cheek replies,) I would argue NFL quarterback - although that may be an American-biased answer. You have to have hundreds of plays and receiver routes memorized, you need to be able to recognize dozens of different defensive plays or formations and interpret what they mean (within seconds, because the play clock will be ticking down) and then audible on the fly to adjust as need be (perhaps go max protect, or change a route, or default to another play entirely). You need very good accuracy, being able to hit a receiver in stride 50 yards downfield or threading the needle between two defenders. You need to be agile on your feet to dodge 260-pound defensive linemen who are charging in to sack you. On top of that, you need all sorts of leadership intangibles, deal with the media attention/public pressure, etc. Hard to think of a tougher job than that. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/66 "2020-08-09T15:45:46Z")
Gritty’s job? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/67 "2020-08-10T11:59:32Z")
By far, NFL quarterback. No other position in sports demands more in physical skill, mental acumen, visual acuity, toughness, and leadership skills. Don’t have the leadership skills but you have the physical skills? You end up being a Jeff George, a pariah who was never a winner. In a 12 year career he only won 2 playoff games. Don’t have the toughness but you have the physical skills? You end up being a Jim Everett, a pussy, a wuss, a Chrissie who wins only 2 playoff games in a 12 year career. NFL QB is by far the toughest job in sports. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/68 "2020-08-10T12:37:51Z")
Being a grand tour rider is without a doubt the hardest job in sports. There is no single game or sport that requires the endurance, focus, determination, discipline, all season long, day after grueling day than pro cycling. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/69 "2020-08-10T12:43:13Z")
I’m thinking it’s being a college coach for a major program. You have to deal with all the pressures and backstabbing of recruiting. You have to deal with losing your best players after just a year or two. You have to deal with the relentless pressure from boosters and administration to win, win, win. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/70 "2020-08-10T13:33:17Z")
The Pittsburgh Pirates are 3-13. The other day despite scoring thirteen runs, they lost in extra innings, 17-13. My gf’s nephew is their social media dude. I think he has the toughest job in sports. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/71 "2020-08-12T18:21:45Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > How about baseball’s home plate umpire? He has a fraction of a second to decide if a close pitch is a ball or a strike. Allegedly - today with accurate video - MLB umpires err on 10-20% of all (ball/strike) calls. > > Every now and again - an umpire has a “perfect game”. > > [The Pursuit of the Elusive Umpire Perfect Game - The Ringer](https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/8/9/20798375/umpire-perfect-game-accurate-robo-umps) And, as Leo Koppett pointed out, it’s assumed that NFL and NBA refs won’t - can’t - catch every infraction or watch every player in a game. Baseball umpires, though, are expected to be able to rule, correctly, on every thing that happens on the diamond. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/72 "2020-08-15T14:36:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > On top of that, you need all sorts of leadership intangibles, deal with the media attention/public pressure, etc. Hard to think of a tougher job than that. I mean, I don’t see a lot of evidence NFL QBs are all especially bright guys. Surely the constant pressure of being an NHL goalie - a job where there is, if you think about it, no success, just limits of failure - as as bad? Or being the lineman who defends the QB, which also has no success, just limits of failure, and which by some measures _literally shortens your life_? Certainly being a head coach or manager is in some respects harder than it once was in the sense of public pressure, because while they still get blamed for everything, they have less power than they used to. In baseball, the relative power of a manager has been on a constant decline for over a century. Back in the day, managers truly ran a team, which is why they’re called that. John McGraw, who managed the Giants for over a generation, was also the team’s general manager, head scount,. fielding coach, and hitting coach; it wasn’t an easy job but he had CONTROL over it. By 40 years ago, the manager’s job had been shrunk to just in game decisions; I guess Whitey Herzog was still also GM with the Cardinals, but he was the last one. Today, managers even have their in game decisions made for them sometimes - but they still take the blame for everything. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/73 "2020-08-24T16:28:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I mean, I don’t see a lot of evidence NFL QBs are all especially bright guys. OK, how about if you don’t include Roethlisberger and Esiason? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/74 "2020-08-24T16:33:48Z")
Umpires are known to get things wrong all the time, but are assumed to never get anything wrong? I don’t follow. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/75 "2020-08-24T16:43:37Z")
Not “assumed to never get anything wrong” (that’s simply not humanly possible). But MLB umpires are expected to observe everything that happens on the field, and rule on it if required. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894/76 "2020-08-24T16:55:39Z")
Lots of different metrics that could be used, but one that is common to all sports is how long people can do something for. Baseball is clearly not a difficult sport, because you can play when you’re old and fat and 45. See also NFL QB. But an NFL running back’s average career lasts _two and a half years_. Granted, not all of them are washed up at 2.5 years; lots just get cut and don’t find another job. But it’s an instructive metric. Admittedly, it’s tough to compare American football to other sports because of the degree of specialization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-toughest-job-in-sports/915894.md?page=3)