Chris Borland Quotes

I'd hate to see the game I love go away because it is considered too dangerous and parents are scared to allow their kids to play.

The truth is, what Americans enjoy about football is much of what makes the sport dangerous. However, I believe there must be a way to find the art of success and vitality in football, without the driving the level of impact that causes serious risk of head trauma, paralysis and other life-changing injuries.

You always want to see the NFL try to protect the players.

Whenever you're falling or getting tackled, try to protect yourself. But that's part of the game; that's part of football.

I'm very proud of high school, college and pro football, the strides have been made to make it a safer game.

Football has always been violent. In the early days of the game, they didn't wear hard helmets. They wore soft helmets, which were just designed to protect the ears. In the '40s and '50s they began to introduce hard helmets, which provided much more protection against things like skull fractures.

Surely, sport is not fundamentally about the safety of athletes. If it were, we'd probably have to ban professional football, right after boxing.

Athletes, coaches and parents today are increasingly aware of the danger of concussion, and this awareness influences decisions about buying new and reconditioned football helmets.

We don't realize how much the NFL is quietly drifting towards flag football. During the '80s, part of the defense's goal was to put the fear of God into offensive players... that's fading away.

He [Gerald R. Ford] played too much football with his helmet off.

Head and neck injuries are what parents thinking about letting their children play tackle football should be thinking about, talking about, and demanding answers about, from any coach presenting himself as a worthy custodian for their child's introduction to tackle football.

It's great playing a sport where you don't get hit in the head.

I don't want football to not be played, but I would like the sophistication brought forth to take care of those who need to be taken care of and to take the precaution, at the sacrifice of winning, to take care of people.

As the equipment has gotten better - and it's gotten better in an attempt to try to protect the player more - then the equipment becomes used more as a weapon.

That's football. It's going to happen. Guys are going to get hurt.

Heads Up Football is a comprehensive youth and high school football membership program developed by U.S.A. Football and supported by the NFL and other leaders in sport and medicine to advance player safety.

As long as we're wearing helmets and shoulder pads - there's collisions between these big, physical, fast guys - head injuries are going to be a part of it.

My opinion, football is the most dangerous sport there is. After that, I'll give it to probably boxing.

There's been a lot talk about football and safety issues. My big thing is the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Only in football is long-term injury the result not of accidents but of the game played properly.

Sixteen games, to me, is a long enough schedule for anybody. We're already concerning ourselves with head injuries and bodily harm to all of the professional athletes. Add to extra games to it, (and) you are just increasing those risks.

We will always make sure player health and safety is our No. 1 priority in the NFL.

NASCAR stepped up their safety concepts, and I think the drivers feel NASCAR is doing everything that can be done. So we are a little behind NASCAR in that respect. Someone in NASCAR realized there were certain things that could be done to make it safer. The same thing has to happen in football.

But the equipment to protect the players hasn't developed along with that, so now you have more players out with worse injuries, for longer periods of time.

People get hurt all the time in the game of football, it's part of what we do.