President Obama cautions NCAA to protect players, says he wouldn’t let ‘son’ play

President Obama cautions NCAA to protect players, noting that the violence needs to be addressed in the NFL and NCAA, even at the expense of the sport.

photo JJ Hall

In an interview with Franklin Foer and Chris Hughes of the New Republic, Obama warns:

“[If] I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of 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 President in 2012 discussed football’s health risks with ESPN’s Bill Simmons, noting that the size and speed of today’s pro players has made the game increasingly dangerous.

“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.”

“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.”

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded Sunday: “We have no higher priority than player health and safety at all levels of the game.”