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Benard Pollard, Ravens Safety, Worries NFL Player Will Die On Field, Game Will Cease To Exist.
Posted: 01/28/2013 by Huffington Post on yahoosports.com
With Super Bowl XLVII looming, President Obama and Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard have both expressed serious reservations about the future of the NFL. In an interview with The New Republic published over the weekend, Obama suggested that the game "will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence." Pollard, considered one of the premier (and reviled, at least in New England) dispensers of mayhem in the sport, fears that the NFL may be headed for an unprecedented tragedy and ultimately cease to exist.
"The league is trying to move in the right direction [with player safety] but, at the same time, [coaches] want bigger, 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," Pollard told CBS Sports. "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."
Despite fearing such a horrific in-game moment, Pollard plays the game at the very edge of the rules -- and some would say frequently beyond them. If not for his crushing tackle on Patriots running back Stevan Ridley -- which included a helmet-to-helmet impact resulting in a fumble and a concussion for Ridley -- Pollard's Ravens may not have advanced to the Super Bowl.
“It was just a tremendous hit. It was football at its finest," gushed Ravens head coach John Harbaugh after the AFC Championship Game, via The Sports Network. "It was Bernard Pollard making a great physical tackle — just as good a tackle as you’re ever going to see in football right there. That just probably turned the game around right there.”
Responding to Obama's comments, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told ESPN on Sunday that the NFL has "no higher priority than player health and safety at all levels of the game."
Pollard believes that the rule revisions and half measures intended to increase player safety coming out of the Commissioner's office could actually lead to the end of the league.
Can the NFL effectively legislate its way to safety? Would such changes alter the game too much to hold fan interest? And if they don't, will the sort of premium punishment that Pollard doles out make his worst-case scenario of a death on the field an inevitability? Will rule changes and equipment upgrades be able to improve player safety or must the game itself change?
With so many questions looming and the studies about increased awareness of CTE revealing the long-term impacts of playing football, Obama told TNR that he would have to "think long and hard" before allowing a son to play the sport. It seems like Pollard would agree with him.
49ers respond to president's concerns.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Aldon Smith was among several players preparing for the Super Bowl who doesn't see anything wrong with their kids playing football.
Responding to President Obama's comments questioning the safety of the game, the 49ers' All-Pro linebacker and a few teammates said they'd allow their sons to follow them into the sport.
''It's not like we signed up and thought we were going to play tennis,'' Smith said Monday. ''It's a physical game. Everybody plays hard. And guys get hit sometimes. That's what we all know coming into the game. We all signed up for it.
''We came out to play football.''
Guard Alex Boone was adamant that football has to be ''physical,'' while adding he believed the league and the players association were attempting to make the game safer.
''If he wants to play, he can play. He can do whatever he wants,'' Boone said of having a son pursue footballs. ''With little kids, you don't really have to worry about them that much. But as you get older, you have to understand the game better.
''I think the NFL is doing a great job with that right now with the little kids, try to teach them now, young, so that they understand. But, it's just football. It's going to be physical.''
While acknowledging he's a football fan, Obama told The New Republic he's concerned about the violent nature of the sport - enough so that if he had a son, he'd think twice about allowing him to play.
''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,'' he said.
''In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much.''
49ers cornerback Tarell Brown called football "a dangerous sport," but not one he would dissuade anyone from trying.
''I can understand what President Obama is saying, but at the same time, the league is putting in things (for safety),'' Brown said. ''It is a physical game if you are passionate about it and are trained the right way.''
San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh joked about allowing his son Jack, now 4 months old, to follow in his footsteps; Harbaugh was an NFL quarterback for 14 seasons.
''If President Obama feels that way, then (there will) be a little less competition for Jack Harbaugh when he gets older,'' said Harbaugh, whose older brother John coaches the Niners' opponent, the Baltimore Ravens. ''That's the first thing that jumps into my mind, if other parents are thinking that way.''
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has a low approval rating among NFL players.
By Brian McIntyre
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is a popular figure on the first day of the annual entry draft as first-round picks eagerly shake his hand, give him hugs and pose for pictures as they both hold up a jersey of the proud players' new team.
Goodell is less popular among players already in the league. According to a recent USA Today poll of 300 active or practice squad players, 61 percent disapprove of the job Goodell is doing as commissioner, Mike Garafolo reports.
"I think it's obvious that I disapprove," said Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who has been fined more than $100,000 for hard hits throughout his career and has been one of the most outspoken critics of Goodell in recent years.
"I feel like what he's doing is not totally for the safety of players...A lot of stuff they've done, (such as) fining guys crazy amounts of money for helmet-to-helmet hits and all that and saying you're doing this for the safety of players. But yet you want to add extra games to the regular season.
"In the true interest of player safety, I would have no issue with it. But that's not what it's about. It's about money. Who hired Roger Goodell?"
According to Garafolo, the discontent is centered around Goodell's handling of increased fines for hits on defenseless receivers and quarterbacks, as well as the league's handling of the investigation into the New Orleans Saints' bounty program. There were other issues, however, including the 2011 lockout that led to the new collective bargaining agreement —which happens to grant Goodell the same authority the players bemoan — and the lockout of the referees for the first three weeks of the 2012 regular season.
Of course, Goodell's lack of popularity among the players does not come as a surprise.
Harrison, along with plenty of other players on the defensive side of the ball, have railed against Goodell for years over the increased fines for hits on their offensive counterparts. Players throughout the league were not happy with Goodell after the stiff bounty suspensions imposed on current and former Saints players Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Scott Fujita and Anthony Hargrove, as well as coaches Sean Payton, Gregg Williams, Joe Vitt and Saints GM Mickey Loomis.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White blasted the salary Goodell will make by the end of his recent contract extension. Green Bay Packers players, fans and a state official in Wisconsin were angry with Goodell after replacement officials allegedly cost the Packers a win over the Seattle Seahawks. (It should be noted that Goodell did not play on an offensive line that yielded eight first-half sacks to the Seahawks and the only reason the Packers were in the lead at the end of the game was due to a non-existent pass interference penalty on Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor in the fourth quarter which led to Green Bay's only touchdown.)
One could make the point that Goodell wouldn't be doing his job if he was well-liked by the players. Being the "face" of the league certainly plays a part in Goodell's low approval rating. Another factor is the answer to Harrison's rhetorical question of "Who hired Roger Goodell?" That would be the owners, who pay Goodell a handsome annual salary ($10 million per season, which will double to $20 million by 2019) to oversee a $9 billion per year industry.
"Anyone who has that position, who's trying to protect the league and what it stands for, is going to run into controversy," said Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who approves of the job Goodell is doing. "There are always going to be positives and negatives that go with it, but I know that Roger in his heart has the best interests of the league...If you're appeasing everybody, you might not be doing the job well."
Super Bowl XLVII Preview: Five X-Factors To Watch.
Excerpt from Yahoo article by jordan.schultz@huffingtonpost.com, 01/28/2013
The Super Bowl is always centered around marquee names but, like any football game, can often be decided by X-factors. Baltimore and San Francisco may both possess a barrage of star power, but they are fueled as much by lesser-known guys. 49ers tight end Vernon Davis caught just seven balls in quarterback Colin Kaepernick's first seven starts, yet amassed 106 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons. Meanwhile, Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta wasn't a Pro Bowler either, yet is often Joe Flacco's go-to receiver when it matters most.
Here are five key X-factors who may make the difference on Super Bowl Sunday:
1. LaMichael James, RB, 49ers. Super-shifty back has the elite quickness that Frank Gore lacks. May only get five to seven touches but has major home-run ability and is becoming an ideal change-of-pace back.
2. Torrey Smith, WR, Ravens. Still not a complete receiver, but is Baltimore's best downfield weapon and a real boon to the play-action game. Look for Flacco to take at least three big shots to him.
3. Haloti Ngata, NT, Ravens. The premier nose tackle in football will have the responsibility of eating up Frank Gore and LaMichael James at the line. Baltimore doesn't want to be forced to load the box.
4. Dennis Pitta, TE, Ravens. Pitta's role has expanded in the playoffs, given his tremendous versatility in the middle of the field. Has excellent hands and Flacco really trusts him on third downs.
5. Vernon Davis, TE, 49ers. Hard to imagine a guy like Davis as an X-factor, but in Kaepernick's first seven starts, Davis had a mere seven catches. His 106 yards and a touchdown versus the Falcons was huge, though, and on the whole, he presents a considerable match-up problem for the Ravens defense.
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