Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker, said his sons likely won't play football, 'an incredibly dangerous, violent game'
- Rep. Colin Allred, an NFL alumnus, said he likely won't let his two sons play football, a "violent game."
- Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field last week and was hospitalized in critical condition.
Rep. Colin Allred, a former linebacker for the Tennessee Titans before he turned to politics, said he likely won't let his sons play football.
Allred, a Texas Democrat, shared his point of view on the incident with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" on Sunday.
"I don't think my boys – I have two sons – will be playing football," Allred said. "Every NFL player goes into every game praying to come through that game okay because we know it's a violent game. These are big, fast, strong men. And a freak accident happened there, one that I think shocked the country, shocked the world. That's the downside of football."
Allred's comments come nearly a week after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field last Monday after a tackle. The Bills said Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after the hit, and fans were stunned as they watched him receive CPR on the sideline, prompting the game to be postponed. Hamlin has since woken up and shown "remarkable improvement," Insider previously reported.
Following Hamlin's collapse, fans flooded a 2020 charity page with donations, outraising the initial $2,500 goal to the tune of over $8 million for toys for underprivileged children as of Sunday afternoon. Allred mentioned the fundraiser on CNN, praising the "generosity of the American people."
"Football is an incredibly dangerous, violent game. But it also taught me a lot. It's part of who I am," Allred said. "But I also understand that there's aspects of it that teach leadership, commitment, the idea that you're part of something larger than yourself, that we could use a little bit more of."
He added: "I think that every member of Congress actually should have been a team sport athlete at some point."