It’s been well documented that Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, who has been around football for nigh on four decades, is a staunch defender of the game. When you strike the integrity of football, Arians strikes back.
And that’s just what he did on Friday at the Cardinals’ training facility while delivering a keynote speech to over 130 high school football coaches at the Arizona Cardinals High School Football Coaches Clinic. As per the Arians way, he didn’t hold anything back when it came to verbalizing his passion and energy for the game of the football.
“We feel like this is our sport. It’s being attacked, and we got to stop it at the grass roots,” Arians said. “It’s the best game that’s ever been f—— invented, and we got to make sure that moms get the message; because that’s who’s afraid of our game right now. It’s not dads, it’s moms.”
Arians also didn’t hold back in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Peter King from The MMQB back in late March,regarding those people who don’t let their sons play football as “fools.”
Arians made several interesting points during his speech on Friday, citing sports like women’s soccer as having more documented cases of concussions and knee injuries than football does, especially at the NFL level. He also did not toe around the fact that football is a violent sport, and that injuries are bound to happen within the game.
He also reiterated player safety as the number one priority of the league, and emphasized how proper tackling could start decreasing concussion concerns. Arians went on to state how he stresses fundamentals with his team and spends time coaching it every day. For Arians, improving these fundamentals and mindsets are key to making the game of football safer.
But Arians’ choice of word leave him to come off as sorely misinformed and combative towards those who differ in opinion from him. It is certainly not just the “moms” that are concerned with the safety of football, nor are those who don’t let their sons play the sports “fools.” Well regarded figures like President Barack Obama stated that if he had a son, he wouldn’t let him play football. Even Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers made his stance clear on why he wouldn’t let his sons play football. Clearly, fathers share plenty of concerns regarding the safety of football – not just mothers.
While Arians is certainly free to defend the game that he loves and coaches for a living, his choice of words regarding those who think differently should better reflect the professional and image that he stands for as an NFL head coach.
[NBC 1060]
