Kristin Cavallari is a beautiful television star and is engaged to Jay Cutler. But she is not a fan of her son playing football, echoing the comments of the President of the United States.
Kristin Cavallari is a reality star and the fiancée of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. She is also one of many people who saythey do not want their son to play football.
Cavallari spoke about the issue on Monday, joining an ever increasing chorus of supporters, including President Barack Obama. Former NFL stars such as Troy Aikman expressed similar sentiments.
According to ESPNChicago.com, Cavallari spoke to a website in Chicago and said that she wants to persuade her and Cutler's five-month-old son not to play football when he gets older.
"I will try to steer Cam in a different direction, maybe a sport that isn't so aggressive," Cavallari told DNAinfo.com Chicago. "Maybe baseball -- something where he doesn't have to get hit."
Obama spoke about the issue in an interview with the New Republic, saying that he would have to ponder long and hard whether to allow his son to play the game. He also said that the game people know now will likely change over time to reduce the violence.
"And those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," he said, according to ESPN.com. The interview appears in the Feb. 11 issue of The New Republic.
Obama mentioned the NFL, but he expressed more concern about the college level since the professionals are compensated for their work.
"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."
Cutler has suffered concussions during the past two seasons that made him miss time during the year.
"At the end of the day, I think if he wants to play football, I don't know if I'm gonna have too much control over it," said Cavallari, who ia former MTV reality star. "You know, how can your dad be a football player and you tell them that they can't do it?"
This past season, Cutler played in 3,033 yards and 19 touchdowns in 15 games played. He missed one game with a concussion.
During the Nov. 20 "Jay Cutler Show" on ESPN 1000, Cutler was asked if he would let his son play football.
"It is a huge number of players that have played football for numerous amount of years and don't have any symptoms from concussions and are leading completely healthy, normal lives," Cutler said. "I think as a culture and as fans of football everyone got caught up into the concussion mania and awareness, it's kind of -- I don't want to say blown out of proportion, because it is a significant issue and something that needs to be paid attention to. ... There is a lot of other things I worry about for Cam other than football. I have diabetes, our food situation in America with preservatives and everything else we put into it, that's something I worry about a lot more than him getting concussions playing football. So, to answer your question, would I let him play football? Absolutely."
Adding more intrigue to the mix, Ravens safety Bernard Pollard poke about the issue and said that things could get even worse and that the NFL may not even exist in30 years. According to ESPN.com, Pollard spoke to CBSSports.com about the possibility that the league may not exist 30 years in the future due to rule changes brought in to make the game safer. Pollard commented that there's a chance that fans will get fed up with the evolution of the game and also about his fears of someone dying on the field.
"Thirty years from now, I don't think it will be in existence. I could be wrong. It's just my opinion, but I think with the direction things are going -- where [NFL rules makers] want to lighten up, and they're throwing flags and everything else -- there's going to come a point where fans are going to get fed up with it," he told the website. "Guys are getting fined, and they're talking about, 'Let's take away the strike zone' and 'Take the pads off' or 'Take the helmets off.' It's going to be a thing where fans aren't going to want to watch it anymore."
Pollard himself is known for making big hits, including his shot on Stevan Ridley in the AFC Championship game that knocked the running back out and caused a fumble. Pollard has experience with big injuries in the NFL. He was also the same player who injured Tom Brady's knee a few years ago while with the Chiefs, forcing him to miss the entire season. He was also the man who tackled Wes Welker when he blew out his knee the following year and last season he was the player who originally injured Rob Gronkowski's ankle, which was hampered in the Super Bowl against the Giants.
The President's quotes come at an interesting crossroads for the NFL, as the high-profile death of linebacker Junior Seau and the issues related to head injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) are at the forefront of conversations about the game of football.
The NFL has taken a range of measures to help make the game safer amongst many lawsuits from former NFL players, including the family of Seau, who is suing the league for wrongful death. The league has changed the rules on helmet contact as well as hits on defenseless players, adding fines and suspensions for players.
The NFL also changed the rules on kickoffs last season, moving kicks from the 30-yard line to the 35 and required the coverage unit to start within five yards of the ball, which decreased the distance between the teams.