Even when we, as civilians, think that we understand the game of football, we really don't. We're only watching. Sometimes we just need to drop assumptions and listen to the players. When we really listen to what the players have to say about the game it's easy to understand why it's so hard for many of them to leave the game. At the same time, it's just as easy to wonder why they play the game at all.
In their words:
As a youngster I was very shy. I was scared to death of people. But football gave me an outlet for my emotions. Yo get the chance to go man-to-man and see if you can stand up against the best that they can throw at you. On a football field I was just a different person.
-Ernie Nevers, Hall of Fame tailback
The beauty of the game of football is that so often you are called upon to do something beyond your capabilities-and you do it.
-Dub Jones, All-Pro halfback, Cleveland Browns
During the game, I get caught up in the feeling of the action, in the intensity and movement and being a part of what's happening on that field. As soon as I walk off the field I have this tremendous letdown, this tremendous emotional relapse, just like coming down off the clouds.
-Merlin Olsen, Hall of Fame defensive tackle
The running back always has a little fear in him. You know that you've got that ball and wherever that ball is, that's where the crowd is going to be. And getting tackled is a thing that hurts. You know, nobody in his right mind wants to go ramming head on into someone else. But when you get out on the football field, I think you tend to go out of your mind. And that fear just makes you run faster and try harder.
-Mel Farr, halfback, Detroit Lions
I feel that a lot of football players build up a lot of anxieties in the off-season because they have no outlets for them. I think I do that very much. I'm most relaxed when I'm playing football. If I'm not getting rid of my energies this way, it builds up and I blow it off in some way that isn't proper in this society.
-Mike Ditka, Hall of Fame tight end
Football is a violent game. You are physically attacking another person. To do this, you almost have to change your personality, to break down some of the things taught you, because this is not accepted in our society.
-Howard Mudd, guard, San Francisco 49ers
I never will forget a game in 1952 in Cleveland and I had my first chance to tackle Marion Motley. He looked like a big tank rolling down on me. But you got to take him on. I hit him with my head in the knees and he came down. I saw a few stars but I felt good, because I tackled Marion Motley.
-Night Train Lane, Hall of Fame cornerback
Anybody who says this game is beastly, brutal and nasty, he's right. You are out there to inflict punishment, but not to take it. You want to be the hitter not the hittee. It's a great personal satisfaction when get a good hit on someone. You know you have done a good job. And you know that the other guy is wondering what the hell happened, and who the hell are you and now he's got to respect you a little bit.
-Wayne Walker, linebacker, Detroit Lions
I think the nature of man is to be aggressive and football is a violent game. But I think the very violence is one of the great things about the game, because a man has to learn control. He is going to go in to knock somebody's block off, and yet he must keep a rein on it. I can't think of any other place that demands such discipline.
-Vince Lombardi, Hall of Fame coach
Training camp is tough, and there's some pain. But it's a good life. It's better than working.
-Doug Atkins, Hall of Fame defensive end
You couldn't take a man off the street and break his hand and say, "All right, get out there and play," There isn't enough money around for that.
-Maxie Baughn, linebacker, Los Angeles Rams
I'm like most human beings. If I weren't in this sport I don't think I would be wanting to limp around all the time worrying about my broken bones. But that's the business we're in. It's just out there. It's strange, though. If you lay around in bed with a broken rib you feel real bad, but when that whistle blows, you don't feel it anymore. A lot of times you can't even find where you were injured.
-Cornell Green, cornerback, Dallas Cowboys
The most thrilling thing in football to me is for the team to execute a play perfectly. The coaches design the play and then we practice it for hours. But in the game so many things can happen that it almost never works out right. So when the time comes, and all eleven men do their job right, it's a beautiful moment.
-Ernie Green, halfback, Cleveland Browns
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