Larry Brown Sports

Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott knows a thing or two about delivering a devastating blow. The San Francisco 49ers legend is widely considered to be one of the hardest hitters to ever play in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean he advocates intentionally injuring opponents.

In fact, Lott has worked with the NFL recently to promote players safety, even narrating a video that was sent to all 32 teams earlier this season explaining how players can still deliver vicious hits that are within the confines of the rules. He also served as a motivational speaker for the 2009 Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, but he says he would never condone the alleged bounty program that team has been accused of running.

“Personally, in my mind, that goes across the line,” Lott told Mike Triplett of The Times-Picayune.

Lott seems genuinely torn with regard to how he should feel about a team that he says was one of the most passionate he has ever been around. He says he never witnessed any players trying to injure opponents or being paid to do so, but he did not offer a very strong defense of the Saints.

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The NFL is emphasizing player safety, but that doesn’t mean they want hard hits eliminated from the game. To prove this point, they had noted hard hitter Ronnie Lott participate in a video sent to teams.

Jay Glazer reported on the FOX NFL Sunday pregame show that the NFL sent a video to all 32 teams to send the message that hard hits are still acceptable in the game, so long as they are legal.

The video featured hard hits from last season’s playoff games — including the conference title games and Super Bowl. Lott, who is a 10-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Famer, narrated the video.

Glazer says the NFL has mandated that teams have all their players watch the video. Teams were instructed to confirm that their players have seen the video.

Lott is one of the hardest hitters the game has ever seen, so asking him to narrate the video was an attempt to emphasize to players that they can still commit hard hits that are within the rules.