Sportswriters used to hold a romantic fascination of what it was like to be a boxer, so much that George Plimpton once took a blow from Archie Moore to know what it felt like. The NFL inspires no such curiosity—these guys hit way too hard.
But which player hits the hardest? That's a question that engenders some of the same enthusiasm that led Plimpton into the ring with a light heavyweight.
It's important to note that there comes a point with certain phenomena where measurement is merely decorative. Take temperature, for example. Is there any real difference between 105-degree heat and 115-degree heat?