Weighing in on a big issues in the sports world, President Obama said that although he is a big fan of football, he believes the sport will have to change in the future in order to cut down on the violence that harms the players.
“I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football,” Obama said in an interview with The New Republic published Sunday. “And 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.”
Obama said he is particularly concerned with college football players who suffer from the violence of the game without the high compensation and other protections that NFL players have.