No matter how badly you play, you want to come out healthy.
My three children played soccer and lacrosse. I grew up as a Green Bay Packers fan. I am not against sports. We want kids to play sports, but we want them to be safe.
My son was a goalkeeper in soccer, and he luckily never had much head trauma. He never had any concussions or anything. I really wanted him to play football, but now I'm thankful he didn't.
It's great playing a sport where you don't get hit in the head.
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.
Who Killed Davey Moore? Why and what's the reason for?
The fundamentals have to be emphasized: tackling the correct way. Having the right equipment. Making sure that you don't have very violent practices or contact practices.
Football is a violent sport, but you know what you sign up for when you put those shoulder pads on. I agree with certain aspects of it. I disagree with certain aspects of it. I've had concussions and I'm still here. I still love the sport. I think I'm still very healthy.
If you can lessen the chance of a bad injury by being strong, you have to do it.
Think about what caused the injury and how it can be prevented next time; that way, you will become a smarter athlete and less likely to repeat the same mistakes.
When I had those injuries in college, I had all of these conversations with coaches about protecting myself. It was a constant internal struggle for me.
People shy away from it [MMA] because they think it's a brutal, brutal sport, and I've said, 'Guys, MMA is safer than football and boxing,... And people tell me they don't believe it. Am I not the most credible person to give you the answer to that?
He played football too long without a helmet.
There's been a lot talk about football and safety issues. My big thing is the benefits far outweigh the risks.
I'm an athlete, so I'm very interested in making the sport as safe as possible - just for my own career longevity.
Look at this, scabs and cuts all over me, I get these every night, every game. They can't tell you that you're not at risk, and you can't tell me there's one guy in the N.B.A. who hasn't thought about it.
My mom's never liked the fact that there's an option for people to punch me in the face, but she likes that I'm doing what I love, and she enjoys a lot of the different perks that go along with it. She just thinks they should change the rules and make it so no one can hit me in the face.
It's actually a blessing to be able to walk off that field win, lose or draw. If you walk off that field healthy, that's the important thing.
