With the Super Bowl drawing closer, the issue of players' safety has taken center stage this week--drawing comments from even President Obama--as players and the media gather in New Orleans, La. for football's biggest game.
President Obama spoke about the need to make football a safer game to play for its players recently, saying that because of his concerns, he would be hesitant about letting his son--if he had one--play football.
"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," he said in an interview with the New Republic. "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."
The NFL has been making rule changes in the last few seasons in an attempt to reduce the rising number of concussions in the sport. The NFL averaged 5.4 concussions per week in 2009, then rose to 7.6 per week in 2010 and to 8.4 per week in 2011.
Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed turned heads this week when he agreed with the president's assessment.
Reed, who has been selected for nine Pro Bowls, said that some of football's medical training facilities need to be upgraded, as well as training rooms, to make conditions safer for the players.
"I have a son. I am not forcing football on my son. If he wants to play it ... I can't make decisions for him. All I can do is say, 'Son, I played it so you don't have to,' "Reed said.
However, not all players agree with Reed's sentiments about safety in football.
Fellow Baltimore safety Bernard Pollard, who sat down with CBS Sports.com recently, said that with the tighter rules and regulatiosn the NFL is enforcing regarding tackles and contact, the league may not even exist in thirty years.
"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."
San Francisco's All-Pro linerbacker Aldon Smith had no reservations about letting his kids play football.
"This is something we chose to do," the quarterback told ESPN. "When you talk about little kids doing it, they are not having the collisions we have in the NFL."
49ers offensive tackle Alex Boone added that football had to be a physical sport, adding that he feels the NFL and its players association were trying to make sure the game was played safer these days.
"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," he said.