Obama would change the way football is played

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
1/28/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

President thinks football is too violent.

Is President Obama ready to tackle football? Obama revealed that he has some concerns over the sport and how it's played in an interview with the New Republic. Obama told his interviewer that it would be a tough decision to allow his son to play football.

If Obama had his way, football might look a little different.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The man who has not hesitated to leave Americans in harm's way (Benghazi, Afghanistan) is concerned that football would be too violent a sport for his son, if he had one.

"I'm a big football fan," Obama told New Republic, "but I have to tell you that if I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football." He then added, "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. 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."

That Obama thinks football should be under his review should surprise nobody. Obama is building a reputation for reaching far when it comes to his opinion on policy; Obama's opinions tend to seep into policy over time, and in surprising places.

He then found a chance to inset a plug for unions - for college players. "I tend to be more worried about college players than NFL players in the sense that the NFL players have a union, they're grown men, 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 should be reminded that college players are grown men too, all quite old enough to die for their country.

The fact is, player safety is a priority in sports, including in the NFL, NCAA, and across the athletic spectrum in the United States. While all activity has inherent dangers, and football has always produced injuries, millions of Americans from children to adults, play football on a regular basis and do so without injury or harm.

While many sporting activities are considered contact sports, that does not mean they inflict severe violence on participants in most cases. Even practitioners of the martial arts, boxing, and wrestling, manage to enjoy the activity without sustaining traumatic injuries. The occasional ache and pain is part of all sporting activities, even jogging and yoga can produce discomfort.

Unfortunate injuries and tragedies do occur, and these can be the result of traumatic contacts in the course of play. Certainly, sporting associations always study these issues carefully and update their rules as needed to protect players. The good news then, is Obama doesn't need to do much to ensure player safety. His concerns are already being addressed, even at the college level where there are no unions to play politics with.

Hopefully Obama remains on the sidelines, and lets the players and associations keep the games both safe and entertaining for the rest of us.

� 2013, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Obama, football, violent, sports, safety, unions

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1 - 10 of 19 Comments

Kay
3 months ago
Even from as far as Zimbabwe, Obama doesn't look like he is doing much good for the American people.
robert matzinger
3 months ago
Well Obama wants to be in charge of everything else in our personal lives - why not football too!
David
3 months ago
What a ridiculous article about nothing. Let's ignore the evidence that clearly points to the dangers of football, and accept it as some form of manliness? Let's not allow Presidents to have opinions? Football is needlessly dangerous. If the players are so tough, let them play without helmets and pads! Oh wait, that is called rugby, a sport played for 80 minutes hardly any breaks (no stopping between plays, or timeouts, quarter breaks and halftime, etc.). And players only play on one side (O or D) in football.
Rob
3 months ago
I don't think the president was stating he was an expert nor did he say anything that could be construed as he was going to personally do something to change the sport.

I guess there is no where to go since Obama won....gotta make stuff up now. Geez.
Rush Glick
3 months ago
Is there ANYTHING remaining that Obama doesn't have on his agenda of change?
Emma
3 months ago
@Greg & Gerald.....maybe it's because I live in a area where a good number of our youth (both younger men and women) participate in rodeo events that I don't see football particularly hazardous. There is risk involved in life. Period. We have young people bull riding for crying out loud. If a child is injured, they should see their personal physician and follow their advice. If an adult chooses to continue to participate in an activity and receive multiple repetitive head trauma, that also is their choice and their personal responsibility. More youngsters are injured in auto accidents than in football! Should we not allow them to be transported in motor vehicles? We wonder why we have an increase in obesity and diabetes among teens? or an increase in bone fractures due to a lack of Vit. D (no exposure to sunlight) . We can't keep our children safe from every perceived harm. How many play football and never suffer long term physical injuries? Let's just all lock ourselves in our homes, then we'll be safe! That's until we fall in our bathrooms and crack our skulls! More injuries occur from slip and falls in bathrooms for crying out loud! On a lighter note ...GO 49ers!!
DLL
3 months ago
When he is done with the football changes I would like to see him mandate the designated hitter as mandatory to national league baseball. Then he can do away with the middle reliever and make the starting pitcher pitch complete games again. But the football changes must come before the baseball ones. He should also hire a few more advisors to help him with all these complex decisions. Then if he does all of this forget Hilliary in 2016 and let him run for a third term.
abey
3 months ago
The outlook of a Neo-Pagan who clings to the extremes to the sign of an unbalanced mind.
David Graf
3 months ago
In the above article, President Obama states that he would have to "think long and hard" about allowing his son (if he had one) , play that great American game of football. He says it's too violent. Doesn't the President have advisors whose expertise he relies on for matters such as foreign policy, economics, domestic tranquility, financial matters, and military decisions? Who is the Commander-in-Chief's advisor for football, John Madden? He might be a more effective President if he spent his time commenting on subjects that affect our nation. I'm a Bear fan, but that doesn't mean that I am an "expdert" who can tell the Bear ownership how to win football games. I wonder, if the President, if he had a son, would think long and hard about letting his "son" join the Marine Corps..
G.G. a pro-life Catholic
3 months ago
Obama has a conscience? About the violence of football? What about the violence of killing babies in the womb? That's what he should be concerned about...The "persons" in the womb cannot defend themselves...The grown big men in football do just fine defending themselves...
Obama is truly a controlling person...It looks like he wants to control everything just like a
dictator! .... Our Constitution, guns, birth control, marriage! ... He's a very insecure man!

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