Brett Favre tells The Today Show's Matt Lauer if he had a son "he would be hesitant to let him play football."
A three-time NFL MVP thought by many to be among the best and toughest players to ever play the game, Favre added "in some respects, I'm almost glad I don't have a son because of the pressures he would face."
In some ways, Favre, who played in a record 321 straight games, is seen as a poster boy for much of what is both right and wrong about the game.
In the eyes of many, his consecutive games string easily rates as a profile in courage, particularly when considering he played a position where players were prone to some of the biggest of hits. Yet, some insist the way he was allowed to and, at times, encouraged to overcome all the pain and injury he endured has greatly contributed to a growing number of other players feeling pressured to subject themselves to the same levels of punishment.
It's enough to now have even Favre undergoing a somewhat change of heart.
"I would be real leery of him playing football," Favre added of his son. "The physical toll that it could possibly take on him, not to mention if he never made it, he's gonna be a failure in everyone's eyes. But more the physical toll it could take."
In an interview scheduled to air Monday, Nov. 18, Favre also weighed in on the ongoing Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito bullying scandal, telling Lauer "my initial reaction was 'you gotta be kidding me."'
He later added "pro football-bullying? It's the toughest sport, most violent, not to mention you're men, some older than others. So, it's not like a 12-year-old on the playground. All I'm saying is my initial reaction was a grown man that's 320 pounds is getting bullied?"
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