Bo Jackson: Risks would have kept me from football

The Heisman Trophy winner said as much this week, adding that there was “no way” he would allow his kids to play the sport, according to a report from USA Today. 

“If I knew now what I had known back then,’’ Jackson told USA Today Sports, “I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody.

“The game has gotten so violent, so rough. We’re so much more educated on this CTE stuff, there’s no way I would ever allow my kids to play football today.

“Even though I love the sport, I’d smack them in the mouth if they said they wanted to play football.

“I’d tell them, ‘Play baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, just anything but football.’’’

Jackson is hardly the first high-profile athlete to have concerns about the game and what it could do to children. Brett Favre, Terry Bradshaw and Troy Aikman have also raised questions about the safety of football.

Click here for more on Jackson’s comments.

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