reaction time.

In the hurdles they have to react to and clear ten different 42 inch barriers that are 30 feet a part from each other and only 110 meters of distance to do that in, (36 inches and 400 meters in the 400mh).

In the steeplechase they have fewer barriers, lower barriers (36 inches), and a greater amount of distance (260+ feet apart over a two mile race) to see and react to them.

Watch the 110m hurdles in slow-mo and the steeple chase in slow-mo. It is night and day different in how they attack & clear a barrier and return to the ground.
In this case a hurdler is a far superior cross over to football.