Hundreds of former NFL players are engaged in major legal battles with the league regarding health and safety. But one current player vows that he’ll never take part in such a case against the league.
Arian Foster admitted that he’s always known the health risks associated with playing in the NFL, during an interview with Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco of ESPN Radio New York on Monday, and said he’s even willing to waive his right to sue the NFL in order to keep on playing.
“I knew what I was getting into. The game’s a violent sport. Anything can happen. People get paralyzed; people get hurt — broken legs, broken everything. It’s just part of the game, and I knew what I was getting into. So to me, it’s kind of like blaming the NFL for your injuries, and I don’t blame the NFL because it was my decision to partake in this game,” Foster said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “So I would never sue. I don’t have ill feelings toward those that have sued or whatever. That’s their business. It’s just the way I see it. I just wouldn’t.”
Foster has rushed for over 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns in each of the past three seasons, enduring some vicious hits from defenders along the way. He’s more of a finesse runner than other backs around the league, but he has been known to exert power in the open field, making the league’s recent ruling to disallow running backs from lowering their heads a little frustrating.
“That play doesn’t come into play a lot with my running style, but you have guys like Adrian Peterson, guys that really are hard runners and try to create that contact,” Foster said. “This is going to affect them more than it will myself. But I find myself sometimes lowering my head and lowering my shoulders. It’s just, you’re not gonna think about the rule changes. We’ve been running like this since we were kids.
“They want us to change that mentality in one offseason, it’s gonna be tough,” Foster continued. “I was never a fan of all the defensive rule changes also — where you can’t lead with your helmet or the facemask — because guys have been tackling like this for years. I was never a fan of that, and I’m definitely not a fan of this.”
Many of the league’s recent rule changes have been aimed at making the game safer for players, but it has also brought about negative reaction from players past and present. So, while the NFL continues to battle its players, both current and former, at least they can take some solace in knowing that there are probably more players that share Foster’s opinion and understanding.
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