Irsay: "The Game Has Always Been A Risk"

Last updated on Tuesday, March 29, 2016

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) - During last week’s NFL owners meeting, Colts owner Jim Irsay spoke to SportsBusiness Journal and had some interesting responses regarding concussions in the NFL.

Days after a report was released by the New York Times, Irsay went all over the board, comparing playing football with Olympic bobsledding, and taking aspirin.

"Look at it. When you get into Olympic bobsledding - I could sit down and name a dozen different sports - it has always been a known factor that you know you are going in there and you are taking a risk." said Irsay. "I believe this: that the game has always been a risk, you know, and the way certain people are. Look at it. You take an aspirin, I take an aspirin, it might give you extreme side effects of illness and your body... may reject it, where I would be fine. So there is so much we don't know."

Irsay still had more to say, as he then related football with deathly acts.

"To try to tie football - to suicides or murders or what have you, I believe that is just so absurd as well and it is harmful to other diseases, harmful to things like... when you get into the use of steroids, when you get into substance abuse, you get into the illness of alcohol and addiction... it's a shame that gets missed, because there very deadly diseases there, for instance, like alcoholism and addiction. That gets pushed to the side and says, 'Oh, no. Football.' To me, that's really absurd."

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