Nothing compares to the violence of football. The hardest, high-speed hits can be likened to surviving car crashes.
Did you admire Jack Lambert? Butkus? What about Chris Zorich?
Again, ask a kid who plays football what he loves about football and he will say, "Hitting people."
We all have our preferences. Golf bores me to tears, but I certainly don't claim that it requires no athletic skills. I can't imagine devoting all the time that duffers devote to it, but whatever. A lot of people are surprised after watching MMA how little resemblance it bears to the worst descriptions. Most fighters end fights with some cuts and bruising. Compare that to the injuries we regularly witness in football.