Mike Ditka can easily be considered one of the faces of football. Da Coach won a total of three Super Bowls — two as an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys and one as head coach of the Chicago Bears — and was a five-time All-Pro tight end. So when Ditka says he would not want his son playing football, it definitely gives you pause.
Ditka has three sons, all of who are grown. But if he was raising son now, knowing what we know about long-term health issues that can be caused by football-related injuries, Ditka would tell him to find another sport.
“No. Nope. That’s sad. I wouldn’t,” Ditka said on an episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that will air Tuesday, according to the NY Daily News. “And my whole life was football. I think the risk is worse than the reward. I really do.”
The episode profiles the 1985 Super Bowl champion Bears and the lasting effect that medications and playing through injuries have had on the players.
As we know, Ditka is not the only one. Kurt Warner, who has seven children, made similar remarks to Ditka’s a few years back. A certain NBA superstar also said he doesn’t want his kids playing football.
Roger Goodell can’t be happy to hear that.
