Realistic Human DR

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

A professional running back is expected to withstand up to a couple dozen such impacts a Sunday, and do it all over again next week.

Assuming that he's not so badly injured that he's out for the next game(s), out for the season, or crippled for life. There's also cumulative trauma like TBI and joint injuries which pro contact sport athletes willingly accept for money and glory. They might need knee replacements when they're 35 and die from traumatic encephalitis when they're 50, but, hey, they played in the NFL and made big money for a few years.

Mitigating potential damage is the fact that pro football players aren't trying to kill each other. Rules and professional courtesy prevent the most damaging forms of tackling and padding and high Breakfall technique from Sport (American Football) further limits injury.

Originally Posted by RGTraynor

A professional heavyweight boxer punching me with all his might would put me in the hospital for a good long while at least; his peers take up to a hundred or more such blows a match, and are expected to withstand them and keep on fighting.

A heavyweight prizefighter can easily kill an untrained civilian with a punch. In GURPS terms, it would be an All-Out (Strong) attack, delivered as a devastating punch to the jaw with high damage dice rolls (representing perfect technique and victim being in just the right spot for maximum damage) and then very bad rolls for Knockout and survival.

Most punches delivered in a boxing match are parried or "jammed" so they do minimal damage (because a fighter can't develop maximum power with his punches). Other punches are delivered at less than full power as part of a Feint or similar set-up.

Most boxing matches (especially at the lower weight classes and non-professional levels) are won by decision, many pro heavyweight fights end with a knockout or TKO. In any case, both fighters are a mass of bruises the next day and usually aren't in fit shape to fight again for several weeks.

The extra HP, improved HT, and Fit/Very Fit advantages that boxers have, plus Boxing (Sport) skill keeps them alive and on their feet during sporting contests. Most MMA or similar full-contact fights, which are the closest thing our culture has to legal unarmed combat, are far shorter affairs with one fighter being knocked out or otherwise decisively defeated within a few minutes. They track far more closely to GURPS combat.