Would you let your son play football? Obama weighs in

Would you -- or for that matter, do you -- let your son play football?

President Barack Obama, a major sports fan, has weighed in on football safety issues with an interview in The New Republic.

Obama told the publication that he's a football fan but that if he had a son, considering the impact the game has on its players, he would think long and hard before allowing his son to play.

It's a hypothetical question, of course. Obama has two daughters.

But what about you? Have you seen all these concussion-related studies? Do you know about the lawsuits? Do you think Junior Seau committed suicide because of the damage the game did to him, or were there other underlying reasons? Or, on a less severe note, do you think the violence is worth the risk and the reward of all that football played at any level can bring?

It's quite a debate. I think each household answers it differently.

I have three boys who are 14, 12 and 9. However, they go to a small charter school that doesn't field a football team. They are basketball and soccer players and have never expressed an interest in playing organized football anywhere else, although I have made their pickup football games in the backyard be two-hand tag (they prefer tackle, and when I'm gone they sneak in a game of tackle football sometimes anyway. You know this if you have ever raised a boy -- some part of them inherently likes contact. It's hard to keep them off each other).

I will tell you this: I love football. And it scares me. And like Obama, I've never had to make this decision, but I would come down about where he does on it, in the "think long and hard" area. I honestly don't know if I'd say yes or no.

I've attended the NFL hall of fame induction a couple of times and it's a real eye-opener, all those former NFL greats who now have trouble walking and, sometimes, talking. And those were the best of the best.

The game extracts a toll on everyone who plays it. No one gets away from the pain if they play long enough. And yet we love it.

Obama said that football fans are going to have to wrestle with the fact that the game will probably change over time to try to reduce the violence. The president says that some of those changes might make football, in his words, "a bit less exciting" but that it will be much better for players.

"And those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much," he said.

Obama also said he worries more about college players than those in the NFL because the pros have a union, are well-paid and are grown men.

"They can make some of these decisions on their own, and most of them are well-compensated for the violence they do to their bodies," Obama said of NFL players. "You read some of these stories about college players who undergo some of these same problems with concussions and so forth and then have nothing to fall back on. That's something that I'd like to see the NCAA think about."

Lastly, if you are in the mood for an absolutely harrowing story, you must read this piece from Dan LeBatard in The Miami Herald about the damage Jason Taylor did to himself while becoming one of the best defensive ends ever. It is ridiculous, really, what Taylor put himself through -- but not uncommon. And he would do all of it again.

6 thoughts on a rare Bobcats win at home

After I watched in person as Charlotte broke a 16-game homecourt losing streak with a 102-101 win over Minnesota Saturday night keyed by Gerald Henderson’s off-balance three-pointer from 25 feet with 4.6 seconds left, here are six quick thoughts:

1) The Bobcats should play that four-guard lineup (Walker, Sessions, Gordon and Henderson) along with Bismack Biyombo more often. It gets the Bobcats’ four most natural scorers onto the court at the same time.

The problem is on the defensive end, of course, but Biyombo (13 rebounds, two blocks Saturday) is getting better at being an eraser.

“They went small and started to attack us and get to the basket, which got them back in it,” acting Minnesota head coach Terry Porter said.

2) Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is still so off and on. He helped keep the Bobcats’ last possession alive by making a great save and not allowing the ball to go out of bounds. But in only 15 minutes, MKG picked up four fouls, had no rebounds and scored just two points.

3) Brad Daugherty made the right call. Instead of watching N.C. State beat UNC 91-83 on TV, the former UNC star and current NASCAR announcer sat courtside and watched the Bobcats win a thriller.

4) Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap described Gerald Henderson as “nasty” after the game, and he meant it as a compliment (Tyler Hansbrough would agree, but for a different reason). Henderson noted after the game that a lot of NBA players think the league’s initials stand for “No Boys Allowed.” He was certainly a man Saturday night – that was a big-time three-pointer he hit to win this one.

5) Kemba Walker has clearly become the face of the Bobcats (now 11-32) and the team’s best player. He nearly had a triple-double Saturday night (25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists) and the only extraordinary thing about it was the fact that it felt so ordinary.

6) Dunlap had an interesting quote about the Charlotte fans afterward. The announced attendance Saturday night was 15,397 – there were no more than 10,000 actually in the building and likely less, but that’s still pretty good for an NBA team that had lost 16 straight home games.

“The fans were really important for us,” Dunlap said. “It’s been a long time since we gave them that kind of effort and I think they appreciated that effort. The Charlotte fans are like that. If you work hard and you lose the game, they’ll come back…. What happened tonight was that they saw a group out there that was playing hard. The fans really enjoyed it. And that volume, that’s the loudest they’ve been when Gerald hit that shot. It was beautiful.”

My Super Bowl prediction for the Har-Bowl and some Panther notes

ATLANTA -- A few Panther-related notes – and a Super Bowl prediction -- after I watched in person as San Francisco came back from a 17-0 deficit to edge Atlanta, 28-24, in the Georgia Dome and then saw Baltimore whip New England on TV:

** First, the prediction. For the first time, the 47th Super Bowl will showcase two brothers as coaches of the opposing teams. It’s an amazing story, really, that Jim Harbaugh (San Francisco) and John Harbaugh (Baltimore) have both gotten there the same year in what is now being dubbed the “Har-Bowl.” Jim Harbaugh, incidentally, was once a backup Panther quarterback but never got to play. The 49ers hired him at the same time as Carolina hired Ron Rivera in 2011.

Both brothers have hot quarterbacks. But I’m going to pick the Ravens, even though they are the lower-seeded team, because I think their defense is a little better than San Francisco’s. My Super Bowl pick: Baltimore 27, San Francisco 21.

** The Falcons aren’t going to the Super Bowl, but they are the class of the NFC South and doubled Carolina's wins this past season (14-7). They remain the team the Panthers must find a way to surpass if they are going to win the division and host their own playoff game in 2013.

** Carolina split with the Falcons in 2012, with each team winning at home, but the Panthers didn’t play nearly as well on a week-to-week basis as Atlanta did. And the Falcons showcased one thing Sunday that the Panthers simply don’t have – two elite receivers instead of just one. Julio Jones “is going to be one of the 2-3 best receivers in the whole NFL,” predicted Atlanta tight end Tony Gonzalez. Jones had 182 yards receiving and two TDs Sunday. White had 100 yards and has hurt the Panthers for years.

** This points up the need for two things: Brandon LaFell to further emerge out of Steve Smith’s lengthy shadow and Carolina’s need for another strong cornerback. Chris Gamble’s days with the team have to be numbered due to his huge salary-cap figure.

** Who was calling the game as the San Francisco 49ers’ radio analyst? Former Panther and 49er cornerback Eric Davis, who has carved out a nice broadcasting career for himself doing both that job and working as an NFL Network analyst.

** It’s no surprise that Davis is succeeding in his new career – he was always a great quote. What was surprising? I asked him how old his triplets were. “Sixteen,” he said. Wow. Doesn’t seem that long ago. But Davis’s triplets were born shortly before Davis and the Panthers made their run to the 1996 NFC championship game.

** Give former Panther defensive coordinator Vic Fangio – the team’s first DC -- some credit for this one. Now in the same role for San Francisco, Fangio dialed up a defense on the Falcons’ final fourth-down play from the San Francisco 10 that Atlanta did not expect. White said it fooled the Falcons and made everything “look covered.”

** Is Gonzalez really retiring in Atlanta? The Panthers would like him to, as would every other NFL team would, but I’m not at all sure he will. How’s this for a postgame qualifier?

“I’m not 100 percent sure,” the 16-year veteran said, “but I’m pretty much positive that this is probably it.”

Sounds like a guy who’s 50-50 to me.

** One last note: Only Panther junkies may remember this, but Jim Harbaugh actually was on the team roster in 2001, for the last part of the 1-15 season. He never actually threw an official pass, though, because Chris Weinke was the starter. Harbaugh told me once that his favorite part of being with the Panthers for those couple of months was throwing to Steve Smith on the scout team -- he said he realized very quickly that Smith didn't belong there, but enjoyed the chance to fire the ball to him anyway.

Shula gets the Panthers OC job -- and he should have

This is scary. The Carolina Panthers keep doing exactly what I want them to do so far this offseason, so I’m guessing a 2-14 season is right around the corner in 2013.

I’m joking about the 2-14…. but seriously? I’m used to the Panthers not taking my advice (and I’m sure they didn’t this time either, that it was just a coincidence). But I a couple of weeks ago I wrote that Ron Rivera should be kept by owner Jerry Richardson for at least one more year, and he was. And then when Rob Chudzinski became Cleveland’s head coach I wrote that Mike Shula should be promoted to offensive coordinator, and according to our beat writer Joseph Person’s sources, he just was.

Shula was the right choice given who the Panthers had to choose from, and he understands Cam Newton’s talents and idiosyncrasies better than anyone else after having been his quarterback coach the past two years. There are many who point to Shula’s bad record as a head coach at Alabama and unimpressive numbers as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator as reasons he should not get this job, but I think he’s the right guy.

Shula is a calm presence. He played the position in college. He will be far more creative than you are guessing he will be, because he’s got Newton as his quarterback now and not Shaun King.

Shula told me once: “I’ve said for the last 15 years -- that as long as I’m around the QBs, I really don’t care if I’m quarterbacks coach or the coordinator or the head coach. I played the position, and there’s something about coaching it that is so challenging and exciting.”

He’s got the challenge of a coaching lifetime now – a young quarterback who should be entering his prime that is going to make him or break him as an OC. Good luck to him – I think he will do just fine.

Gettleman the grinder makes good first impression as Panthers new GM

New Panther general manager Dave Gettleman is not from around here. He’s 61 years old. He basically demoted himself in his last job with the New York Giants.

And you know what? He still makes a heck of a first impression.

Gettleman certainly “won” the press conference at Bank of America Stadium, coming across as charming, smart and gruff. He advanced through the NFL scouting ranks and feels most comfortable watching film in a darkened room and evaluating players, but his sense of humor and directness makes him seem like a guy that players would enjoy talking to and front-office people would like working for.

“I’m pretty simple, my wife will vouch for that,” said Gettleman, who was accompanied at the press conference by his wife and their three children. “I believe in faith, family and football. Those are my priorities. I’m called a grinder and I think that’s a compliment in our industry.”

Gettleman choked up Tuesday talking about his late mother-in-law, he made a joke about his own bad breath and he answered every question honestly. He seemed honest and was definitely entertaining. He wasn’t David Letterman or anything, but there was far more laughter in that press conference than usual, and most of it came from Gettleman poking fun at himself.

First impressions can be a little off, of course. John Fox once snowed me over in our very first extended interview. He was hilarious. He was thoughtful. He was great. And then for most of the next nine years, he purposely became the most boring coach in football and answered nearly every question with a cliche.

Gettleman says that “what you see is what you get” with him, though, and I sure hope that’s true. He’s getting an opportunity for his dream job at age 61, which not a lot of us can say. I hope it works out for him. He’s the kind of guy you want to root for.

When asked why he hadn’t had an opportunity for a GM job before, Gettleman said in recent years he believed his age had worked against him. “I just needed someone who was looking for an older, more mature guy,” Gettleman said. “That’s really what it came down to. Our culture is the next whiz-bang is the next great thing, That’s just where we’re at right now as a culture. It was one of those deals where, ‘Oh, he’s an old dinosaur. He’s probably cranky.’ So the bottom line is, it’s all about the person doing the hiring. It’s all about the fit.”

On this day, the fit seemed fine. Even when Gettleman said the Panthers played “hahd” for Ron Rivera in the last half of the season, you knew what he meant. But where we’ll really find out about Gettleman is when he grinds through a couple of drafts and free-agency periods. He’s got to dig the Panthers out of a $16-million salary cap hole, and then he’s got to supply Rivera with some more players – and he’s going to have to find some of them at bargain prices.

“Roster building is a fluid, liquid situation,” Gettleman said. “And you have to understand if you aren’t improving the bottom end of your roster, you’re not improving.” He also said he wanted the Panthers to “raise their own” players much like former GM Marty Hurney did, drafting well and then keeping the best.

He also said he was fine working with Rivera. Said the new GM: “I told Ron, ‘I don't have a list of head coaches in my back pocket.’ I have no interest in that.”

What he is interested in is his legacy, both personally and professionally. Gettleman referenced the word “legacy” several times Tuesday, saying at his age he owed it to himself to think about that. He wants that legacy to include a winner in Charlotte. He told Rivera Thursday when they had breakfast together: “If we do this right, you and I are holding up the trophy with Mr. Richardson.”

It was a nice quote. Now he has to start making it happen.

What a spectacular NFL weekend it was

It has been a long time since I've enjoyed an NFL weekend more than the one we just had.

Four games. Four barnburners.

When the losing team scores at least 28 points in every single game, you know you saw something pretty amazing.

The Denver-Baltimore game was an all-timer, primarily because it went into the sixth quarter. You just don't see that much (although the Panthers did it once, and in the same round of the playoffs, in 2003).

And Atlanta-Seattle -- a 30-28 Falcons win, which mimicked Atlanta's winning score against Carolina earlier this season exactly -- was amazing. I wonder if John Fox was watching that one (see the post two down from this one for my thoughts on how Fox's conservatism cost the Broncos dearly). The way the Falcons went down the field with hardly any time left to set up for the winning field goal -- that's what Denver had the opportunity to do on the final possession of regulation Saturday, but Fox instead had Peyton Manning take a knee and play for overtime. (Of course the difference was Atlanta had no choice -- the Falcons were down by a point and didn't have the OT option. It was now or never).

Although the other two games didn't come down to the final seconds -- with San Francisco and New England both pulling away -- they still had an enormous share of big moments. The weekend was the polar opposite of "wild-card weekend" seven days before, which was totally boring.

I'm picking San Francisco and New England to advance to the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. But what I'm really hoping for is two more games that live up to the ones we just saw.

Winners of the 7-9 contest are....

My crowdsourced column on “The Curse of 7-9” is in Sunday’s Charlotte Observer and can also be found online here. In the column, I pointed out the Panthers have gone 7-9 seven times – including in 2012. And I asked fans how it felt. I used 20 of the more than 200 responses I got in the published column (many of them came from an item on this blog asking for submissions).

The 20 that made the column are listed below. If one of them is yours and you want a FREE signed copy of my 2004 book on the Panthers published shortly after their Super Bowl appearance – called “Tales from the Carolina Panthers Sideline” – as a token of my appreciation, let me know your name and address and which one-liner you wrote. I have several of the winners' names already but need more of them.

Many more responses were very good and could have been published as well –there were many references to “Groundhog Day” and takeoffs on "it is what it is" -- but I ran out of room. Thanks to all who participated.

A list of the winners….br />
Every time the Panthers go 7-9, it feels like: br />
…. you were promised a trip to Athens and Rome and ended up in north Georgia.

.... watching an insect continually fly into a closed glass door.

…. Jennifer Aniston is off the market again. I know I didn’t realistically have a chance, but it still sucks.

…. making it all the way home just to find out they forgot to put your fries in the bag.

....that time at the bar when that smokin' hot girl locked eyes with you and smiled, but only because you had a peanut stuck to your cheek.

…. that boy who loosens his arm will soon be signed.

… it must be time for the annual Jerry Richardson Celebrity Golf Cart Classic.

…. trying to get excited about prom night when you are home schooled.

……my PSL stands for Panthers Stink, Lose.

…. the terrorists are winning.

…. A ticket price increase is coming.

…. winning 100 percent of the time 43 percent of the time.

.…. Cam Newton just called me sweetheart.

…. my Kerry Collins jersey fits a little tighter.

….. the numbing mediocrity of taking a lukewarm bath at an two-star airport hotel on the last night of a semi-fun, semi-miserable family vacation.

…. rain when they were predicting snow.

…. DeAngelo Williams’ acting career – dreadful.

… someone is owed a beating with the “Keep Pounding” hammer.

…. a family reunion of hope and despair.

.… we have to help the sportswriters come up with something to fill their columns.