Earlier this week, Kurt Warner turned a number of heads with his comments about not wanting his children to play football. In the wake of the Junior Seau tragedy and what we currently know about head trauma caused by football injuries, Warner said that as a parent he would prefer for his sons to play something else. First, we heard Amani Toomer blasting the former NFL quarterback for what he saw as Warner trashing the game of football. On Friday, Merril Hoge had even stronger words for Warner.
“I think it’s irresponsible and unacceptable,” Hoge said on NFL Live according to Pro Football Talk. “He has thrown the game that has been so good to him under the bus. He sounds extremely uneducated.
“Head trauma is not the issue here — it’s how head trauma is treated. The game is safer than it has ever been because we’re being proactive with head trauma. That is the biggest issue.
“I can’t believe that he would share that message because now moms and dads that are out there, and Billy wants to play, but they are uneducated and they are unsure, and they love Kurt Warner, they’re like, ‘He doesn’t want his kids to play? Why should I let my kids play?’”
Not only does Hoge disagree with Warner about football being an unsafe sport for children to play, but he feels it should be considered part of the solution rather than the problem.
“The biggest problem in our society today with our youth is obesity,” he said. “You will do more damage to your son or daughter by allowing them to sit on the couch, play XBox and eat a donut, health-wise, than you will ever do if you put them on a football field and it’s in the right structure. You think of obesity and all the things that come from that — diabetes and lung and heart and joint issues, we can go on and on — the last thing we should do is discourage children from activity.”
In terms of physically activity, Hoge has a point. However, he’s making it sound like Warner said he would rather his children sit home and do nothing. There are plenty of other things that kids can do to remain active, and Warner has every right to express his honest opinion as a father. Like Toomer, Hoge is out of line to say that Warner owes it to the game of football to keep his opinion to himself.
Photo credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE
