The Super Bowl is getting started as the Baltimore Ravens touch down in New Orleans. Safety Bernard Pollard spoke about the future of the league and agreed with President Obama's comments on football.
The Super Bowl is getting underway in New Orleans and the financial health of the league is better than ever. Ask Ravens safety Bernard Pollard about it though, you might be in store for a bleak answer.
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's comments echoed sentiments made by President Obama in an interview with The New Republic that is set to come out in its Feb. 11 issue. The President said that he would have to think about allowing his son to play and that fans will have to grapple with the idea of the game changing in the future to ensure safety.
"And those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," he said, according to ESPN.com.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded to Obama's comments Sunday, saying the NFL has "no higher priority than player health and safety at all levels of the game."
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."
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.
Pollard went on to say that the game will become safer for players, but that coaches and executives in the league are always looking for players who "stronger and faster year in and year out. And that means you're going to keep getting big hits and concussions and blown-out knees."
"The only thing I'm waiting for ... and, Lord, I hope it doesn't happen ... is a guy dying on the field. We've had everything else happen there except for a death. We understand what we signed up for, and it sucks," he told the website.
Pollard himself is known for making big hits, including hit shot on Stevan Ridley in the AFC Championship game that knocked the running back out and caused a fumble. He was also fined $15,250 for unnecessary roughness last week for his third-quarter hit on New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker in the same game. Pollard received a 15-yard penalty on the play for striking an opponent in the head and neck area.
The CBS report also mentions some comments from a past Sports illustrated story by Peter King featuring quarterback Carson Palmer, who expressed the same sentiment, saying the game had become so violent that "at some point, somebody is going to die."
Big hits are part of the game, but the NFL has taken many measures to help with safety. 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.
Earlier this year, Goodell spoke to TIME Magazine in an interview about the possibility of further rule changes and how it has worked so far. The report detailed a meeting between Goodell and Rich McKay, the head of the league's competition committee, in which the two discussed an idea that was proposed by Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano earlier this year that would eliminate kickoffs and returns.
According to the magazine, "TIME sat in on meeting between Goodell and Rich McKay, head of the NFL's powerful competition committee. Goodell brought up a proposal promoted by Greg Schiano, coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: after a touchdown or field goal, instead of kicking off, a team would get the ball on its own 30-yard line, where it's fourth-and-15. The options are either to go for it and try to retain possession, or punt. If you go for it and fall short, the opposing team would take over with good field position. In essence, punts would replace kickoffs, and punts are less susceptible to violent collisions than kickoffs."
Pollard said that any rule changes would not affect the way he plays the game.
"It's not going to change the way I play," he said. "I've been taught to play one way my whole career, my whole life, and I've never been a malicious player. I play the game hard and physical, just the way our defense does. You can't play it any other way because it means you're thinking. And in a fast-paced game, you can't play that way."
The emphasis on player health as well as social media has put a new focus on big hits as well as head injuries.
"We are defenders. And when I talk to people I ask them, 'How would you behave if someone kicks in the door and is going to come into your house? Let's see how you defend your house; let's see how you react,'" Pollard said. "I protect. Someone comes in who's unwanted, and you see what happens. The switch goes on. Football is a violent sport, and sometimes bad things happen. Some people don't like it. But at the end of the day, I've got to feed my family, and this is how I do it."
Pollard has experience with big injuries in the NFL. He knocked out Stevan Ridley in the playoffs and 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.
Pollard has been one of the most consistent players for the Ravens this season, making 98 tackles and one interception in 13 games played. He added two sacks and six passes defended. During the playoffs he has made 15 tackles and one forced fumble in three games.
