President Obama questions safety of football

**pwaldo** · 01-27-2013, 09:57 PM

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/88...-play-football

President Barack Obama says he's a football fan but that if he had a son, considering the impact the game has on its players, he would think long and hard before allowing his son to play.

Obama tells The New Republic that football fans are going to have to wrestle with the fact that the game will probably change over time to try to reduce the violence.

The president says that some of those changes might make football, in his words, "a bit less exciting" but that it will be much better for players.

"And those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," he said.

The interview appears in the Feb. 11 issue of The New Republic.

Obama says he worries more about college players than those in the NFL because the pros have a union, are well-paid and are grown men.

"They can make some of these decisions on their own, and most of them are well-compensated for the violence they do to their bodies," Obama said of NFL players. "You read some of these stories about college players who undergo some of these same problems with concussions and so forth and then have nothing to fall back on. That's something that I'd like to see the NCAA think about."

**duwal** · 01-27-2013, 10:03 PM

I'd have the same line of thinking

**bouddddyyy21** · 01-27-2013, 11:58 PM

If a person is willing to put his brain/life in danger to play a game they love why stop them? Sure make the game safer, but don't ruin the sport many people love to watch. An analogy I would use is to the military. I totally get in the military you you do not smash your head into someone elses multiple times over and over, but you get deployed and some peoples lives are forever changed. Sure, they are doing it to serve their country, but why put their lives and their mental stability in jeopardy? Or does that not cross peoples mind because it is a CHOICE to be in the military in most places and if someone comes back with issues we are saddened but it doesn't make us change our minds about sending troops over. Yes yes yes we need military and their purpose is NOT for entertainment, but why is it not that big of a deal for those who come back mentally unstable and they left perfectly fine? Maybe the analogy is a little dramatic, but I feel like God gave the person the ability to play football and the ability to make their own decision knowing the possible consequences down the road. Anyways, I could go on and on I just find it funny that this is even an issue.