On the same day that Chargers guard Kris Dielman announced his retirement after suffering a post-concussion seizure earlier this season, President Obama weighed in on the concussion debate in a wide ranging interview with Bill Simmons in which he spoke about various sports-related topics. The President is well known as a huge sports fan, and used the opportunity to weigh in on various topics.
“When you think about the toll that NFL players are taking, it’s tough,” Obama said, speaking about concussions. “Now, the problem is, if you talk to NFL players, they’re going to tell you that that’s the risk I take; this is the game I play. And I don’t know whether you can make football football if there’s not some pretty significant risk factors.
“Part of the problem is just the speed and the size of these guys now is — you watch the old tapes from the ’50s and the ’60s,” Obama added. “They look like they’re going in slow motion. And now, what, they just had the Combine and they’re talking about some guy who is like 340, who runs a 4.8 … a three-foot vertical. And I don’t know what you do if a guy like that hits you.”
President Obama also spoke about the need for a college football playoff system, and used the New York Giants Super Bowl run as an example of the excitement that comes from unanticipated results.
“Part of what makes sports great, part of what makes March Madness great, the NFL playoffs great, is every once in a while something happens during the playoffs that shows the character of a team,” Obama said. “Look at the Giants this year. Nobody would have picked them. They wouldn’t have been crowned as champions if you had a coaches’ poll at the end of the year. But they made the plays when it counted.”
