Ravens DB Ed Reed: Junior Seau ‘signed up for’ possible dangers of NFL

Ed Reed

Ravens safety Ed Reed said Tuesday that Junior Seau, who committed suicide after reportedly suffering brain damage during his NFL career, knew the possible dangers of football and accepted them when he signed an NFL contract.

“Did he sign up for it?” Reed said during Super Bowl media day Tuesday. “Yeah, he signed up for it.”

Reed said he’s already having issues he believes to be related to concussions during his NFL career, which began in 2002, but that all football players accept the potential risks.

“I feel effects from it,” Reed said. “Some days, I wake up and I’m like, ‘Where did my memory go?’ But I signed up for it.”

Meanwhile, Baltimore safety Bernard Pollard said he’d have doubts letting his own young son play football.

“My son will be 5 [years old] in a couple of days,” Pollard said. “He wants to throw the football and be tackled. I see it in him. My wife and I talk about it all the time. I know concussions can happen anywhere. I don’t want to see my son go through that.”

But Reed stood by his claim that Seau knew what could happen to his mind when he became a pro football player.

“Junior gave everything he had to football,” Reed said. “I’m sure he’s looking down and has no regrets.”

One Comments for “Ravens DB Ed Reed: Junior Seau ‘signed up for’ possible dangers of NFL”

1. Christopher Pratt Says:
   January 30th, 2013 at 11:26 am

   “Ravens DB Ed Reed: Junior Seau ‘signed up for’ possible dangers of NFL”

   Now, I’m pretty sure some nuts are going to come out to agree with Mr. Reed, and yes Mr. Seau was paid to play football, but stop and think. What does this statement say about our society? About us the fans?

   How is this different from the gladiators in Rome?

   We pay lot’s of money to watch the NFL. We are paying to see the “danger of NFL. We cheer it on.

   In fact, it’s every bit as bad as the blind hits, hits to the head, and fighting that goes on in the NHL. How is it different from MLB pitchers hitting a batter? Is the NBA void of this violence?

   Not to mention it is in its own way just as bad as the use of performance enhancing drugs by athletes.

   Think for a minute. What are we paying for and cheering on as entertainment every day?

   I love hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer and football, but I would love it and enjoy it more if it was not dangerous to play because unnecessary hits, fights, helmet to helmet hits, hits to the head, blindside hits and so on were removed from the game. All games.

   There will always be injuries from athletics as there are from most human activity, but it should not be dangerous to the degree Mr Seau experienced to play our national games.

   Game rules, player coaching and development, refereeing, equipment can and should all be changed, fixed from peewee, high school, college and on to professional levels. There is no excuse.

   And we should not be paying to watch the violence that takes a players brains.

   How is this different from the gladiators in Rome?

   http://leeinks.weei.com/sports/2013/01/30/ravens-db-ed-reed-junior-seau-signed-up-for-possible-dangers-of-nfl

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