FirstTimer
Freeman Error
From TSN
In the aftermath of Bountygate and with mounting concerns about the long-terms effects of head injuries on NFL players, former quarterback Kurt Warner stepped forward this week to say he would prefer that his sons not play football.
Warner, a two-time league MVP who is now an analyst for the NFL Network, voiced his opinion on the “Dan Patrick Show” and on ESPN Radio’s “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.” Warner said the thought of his sons playing football “scares me.”
“They both have the dream, like dad, to play in the NFL,” Warner said on the Patrick Show. “That’s their goal. And when you hear things like the bounties, when you know certain things having played the game, and then obviously when you understand the size, the speed, the violence of the game, and then you couple that with situations like Junior Seau—was that a ramification of all the years playing? And things that go with that. It scares me as a dad.
“I just wonder—I wonder what the league’s going to be like. I love that the commissioner is doing a lot of things to try to clean up the game from that standpoint and improve player safety, which helps, in my mind, a lot. But it’s a scary thing for me.”
Warner, 40, who suffered multiple concussions in the NFL before retiring after the 2009 season, conceded he also is concerned about his own long-term health.
"I worry about the long-term effects for me personally," Warner said on The Herd. "I worry about what can happen after football, as we've seen with a number of guys. I worry about what could happen at a younger age. ... With the way things are going right now and the way guys are getting bigger and stronger and faster, I would encourage my kids to probably stay away from it, if I could."
Warner’s stance was criticized by former NFL players Amani Toomer, a teammate of Warner with the Giants in 2004, and Merril Hoge.
“I think Kurt Warner needs to keep his opinions to himself when it comes to this,” Toomer said on NBC SportsTalk via the New York Daily News. “Everything that he’s gotten in his life has come from playing football. He works at the NFL Network right now. For him to try and trash the game, it seems to me that it’s just a little disingenuous.”
You are a kid named Billy, and Merril Hoge is worried about your future.
He has seen the enemy, and it is Kurt Warner.
"He has thrown the game that has been so good to him under the bus," Hoge said.
The game is football. In the wake of recent developments, Warner said it might not be the ideal activity for young minds to pursue.
That flabbergasted Hoge, a retired player who make his living talking about the game; and Amani Toomer, who has the same bio. They were hardly alone. The strong reaction prompted Warner to post a statement on his website Monday.
"I don't understand why it is so hard for people to understand how I can BOTH love the game," Warner wrote, "and be grateful for what it did for me and at the same time have concern for my kids in regards to playing it."
It shouldn't be that hard. The fact is it shows that when it comes to brain injuries, a lot of people still need some sense shaken into them.
All Warner said was he would prefer his sons not play football, but he'd let them make that choice. What sounds like responsible parenting struck Hoge as an existential threat to America's most popular sport.
"I can't believe that he would share that message," he said. "Because now moms and dads that are out there, and Billy wants to play, but they are uneducated and they are unsure, and they love Kurt Warner. They're like, 'He doesn't want his kids to play. Why should I let my kids play?' "
Warner's not so worried about pee wee leagues. It's what happens as kids grow up.
You know, like the 1,500 or so kids who grew up to be NFL players and who are now suing the league for allegedly hiding brain-injury risks.
Warner has heard them talk about how they can't remember names and constantly misplace their keys. He's seen the evolving research into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and how repeated blows to the head lead to depression and dementia.
There's no evidence CTE led to Junior Seau's suicide. But his death last week prompted the latest round of fretting. Is it that crazy for parents to worry that a lab might someday want his son's brain for research?
It is for Toomer.
"I'd definitely have my son play football," he said. "That's what the Toomer family does."
He then compared Warner to a basketball player who has fun and then takes the ball home, ruining the game for everybody.
"I think Kurt Warner needs to keep his opinions to himself when it comes to this," Toomer said.
Amani, however, can apparently say whatever he wants. That makes him a mouthpiece for all those who think the Warners of the world are a bunch of wimps.
They're just grateful that Archie Manning didn't think like Warner. Peyton and Eli might have grown up to be accountants or soccer players.
If Archie had been young parent today, he might be thinking like Warner.
Concussion awareness has increased dramatically in the past 10 years. But try as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell might, football will always be a head-rattling game. Playing football because "that's what we do" makes you wonder if Toomer can even spell CTE.
The head rattling drove Hoge into early retirement. He certainly appreciates the dangers, but he says improved treatment makes them acceptable.
After all, what are a few concussions among friends?
"I think it's irresponsible and unacceptable," Hoge said of Warner's stance. "He sounds extremely uneducated."
As if 12 years in the NFL didn't teach Warner anything. Warner was educated on brain injuries long before the New Orleans Saints put a bounty on his head.
His wife had a son from a previous marriage. Zachary was dropped on his head as an infant. The accident left him with brain damage and blindness. That was 22 years ago.
"Although my son is a tremendous blessing, I am saddened by the daily struggles he has to face due to the injury," Warner said. "So I hope all can understand my fear of placing my children in to an environment where the speculation of head trauma is in the forefront."
Understand? If I'm Billy, I can only hope my parents see the real enemy.
It sure isn't Kurt Warner.
Kurt Warner, criticized by former players for saying he prefers his sons not play football, issued a lengthy response Monday saying he is disappointed "we can no longer respect others opinions."
Warner, a two-time NFL MVP, faced a sharp backlash last week from ESPN's Merril Hoge and former New York Giants receiver Amani Toomer for questioning the safety of playing the game.
Hoge said Warner was irresponsible and "sounded extremely uneducated." Toomer claimed Warner was disingenuous considering his role as an NFL Network analyst and should "keep his opinions to himself."
Although Warner backtracked from his original comments last week, he said more discussion and fewer individual attacks are needed.
In comments posted on his website, Warner said:
" ... I love this game and all the things that it taught me and afforded me along the way, but regardless of all that I have a responsibility to my kids. I cannot be oblivious to the risks of the game of football simply because it was good to me. So as my kids continue to play I worry about them every time they get hit, just as my wife worried about me every time I got hit in my 12 years in the league.
Now, I don’t want to scare anyone about this great game and I will continue to support all of the adjustments being made by the NFL (& other levels) to increase player safety in hopes that the game of football has a long and healthy run as the world’s greatest team sport. But, we must proceed with caution and be informed of how to handle these situations if we ever find ourselves in them (as Mr. Hoge so eloquently stated)."
Warner questioned why Hoge and Toomer considered his comments throwing the game under the bus.
"I don’t know why it is so hard for people to understand how I can BOTH love the game and be grateful for what it did for me and at the same time have concern for my kids in regards to playing it. Why does it have to be one or the other?" Warner wrote.
"I love the X’s and O’s of the game. I love the strategy of the game of football. I love the competitiveness of playing the greatest team sport in the world, where 11 guys must come together at the same time for the team to have success. I love the chess match within each game, the moves and countermoves and the pressure filled responses that dictate who will be the victor. I love the discipline and hard work that is required to succeed in any sport, especially the game of football.
"Yet, at the same time I am fully aware of the one aspect that I do not love … the violence."
