Ann McKee Quotes

I'm very proud of high school, college and pro football, the strides have been made to make it a safer game.

I've heard all the coaches complaining about the new CBA rules limiting padded practice. I don't like the reduction to just 15 padded practices during the season. When I coached, we always practiced in pads; and three days a week.

Of course, in pro ball, they never hit the quarterback in practice.

We don't realize how much the NFL is quietly drifting towards flag football. During the '80s, part of the defense's goal was to put the fear of God into offensive players... that's fading away.

Player safety has been an essential focus for us for a number of years.

We talk about players of yesteryear, guys who could play or couldn't play, and I think it's ridiculous to try to even compare people... The things that you can do in basketball today that you couldn't even do then... you can carry the ball; you walk all over the place.

I couldn't identify just one, but there's numerous rule changes and points of emphasis that have reflected a change on the field almost immediately. It's hard to avoid the horse-collar tackle, for example, but the players understand why the rule is in there - because of the injury rate prior to us making that a personal foul.

Since 2000, it's been a privilege and honor for me to be on the competition committee. And our main focus... is player safety.

I don't want football to not be played, but I would like the sophistication brought forth to take care of those who need to be taken care of and to take the precaution, at the sacrifice of winning, to take care of people.

I think medically, football is generally well looked after. There are always checks made. Anything which can be done to make footballers or sportsmen of any area safer has to be encouraged.

It's not an exercise on how to avoid getting hit. I think there are certain safety measures that take care of the mental part of it, with players not looking to hit somebody in the head. They've done that. But let's not take the entertainment value out of football.

Whenever you're falling or getting tackled, try to protect yourself. But that's part of the game; that's part of football.

There might not be kicking in the NFL by the time I get to 45.

One of the wonderful things about wrestling, to me, is that you can protect people who have had head injuries.

My experience over my five years at Wisconsin and my one year in the NFL was that there were times where I couldn't play the game safely. There are positive measures we can take... but on a lead play, on a power play, there's violence.

It doesn't change the way we play, I'll tell you that much. If we hit a guy and get fined, we get fined.

No one's saying anything against healthy, fair hardness. That's a part of football. But referees must look more closely and make sure limits are not exceeded.

I don't get hurt because I'm so slow.

Sometimes, quarterbacks just get hurt. So do running backs, so do linemen, so do wide receivers. Blaming innovative schemes for these injuries is shortsighted.

Injuries are a part and parcel of a player's career.

Even wrestling, now, I wear the helmet all the time. I'm not going to make that mistake again ever in my life.

There's been a lot talk about football and safety issues. My big thing is the benefits far outweigh the risks.

It's always a blow for a team if important players get injured or suspended.

Get in front of the ball, you won't get hurt. That's what you've got a chest for, young man.

Hockey is a tough game. With all the talk and everything that's going on right now, it frightens me a little bit that we are giving our players an excuse not to hit. I just hope that we don't take that out of our game at the pro level.