As a father, Kurt Warner says he would not want his sons to play football. With the awareness that has been raised over the past several years in terms of concussions and head injuries, his opinion is one that is shared by many parents across the country. Football is a violent game, and some people would prefer that their children play a sport that is less aggressive.
When discussing the Junior Seau tragedy on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning, Warner said there is “no question in (his) mind” that he would prefer that his sons not play football. Former Giants wide receiver Amani Toomer thought those comments were highly hypocrtical.
“I’d definitely have my son to play football,” Toomer said on NBC SportsTalk Thursday according to Pro Football Talk. “That’s what the Toomer family does. We all play football. But what this reminds me of is the guy at the basketball court, who once he gets done playing takes the ball and ruins the game for everybody else. I think Kurt Warner needs to keep his opinions to himself when it comes to this. Everything that he’s gotten in his life has come from playing football. He works at the NFL Network right now. For him to try and trash the game, it seems to me that it’s just a little disingenuous to me.”
Warner has seven children, so he has as much of a right to speak candidly as a father as anyone else does — regardless of how he made his money or who employs him. If I made my money dealing drugs, that doesn’t mean I want my children following the same career path. Before you fly off the handle and accuse me of comparing the NFL to a drug dealing agency, I’m not. I’m simply pointing out that Toomer’s reasoning is flawed in terms of why he thinks Warner should keep his opinion to himself. Then again, flawed reasoning is something Toomer has found himself extremely familiar with over the past few months.
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