Ray Lewis has a problem with football rules designed to limit concussions
“If you leave the game alone, like always, the game will take care of itself.’’
Ray Lewis made more than 1,500 tackles during his 17-year NFL career, inflicting as much punishment on other people’s bodies as he took to his own while making all those hits.
One of the unfortunate consequences associated with the sport of football is head trauma. The NFL settled a class-action lawsuit over it. Former NFL great Junior Seau, who killed himself, suffered chronic brain damage from playing the sport.
None of that worries the former Ravens linebacker Lewis, who was downright dismissive about concussions in a recent interview with PBS anchor Charlie Rose.
“Me, personally, no,’’ Lewis said in response to a question from Rose on whether or not he was concerned about concussions. “I think what I am concerned about is they’re taking the game, and they’re diluting the game, because they want to protect their claims. But if you leave the game alone, like always, the game will take care of itself.’’
When pressed, Lewis didn’t back down.
“One of the biggest things right now that’s disgusting, disgusting, in college football is now they’ve created a term that’s called ‘targeting,’ saying that if a player launches his head — which is the first thing on your body, it’s what you lead with — you launch your head into someone, and you collide with their helmet, that’s targeting. And they’re kicking babies out of games. But if a referee makes a mistake they never get punished.’’
You can watch Lewis’s complete comments on concussions below.
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