Joy Behar is letting her feelings known when it comes to tackle football.
During Wednesday’s episode of “The View,” the 80-year-old television host showed her disdain for the violent nature of the sport and the people who support it while discussing Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin.
On Monday night, the football player collapsed during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals and suffered cardiac arrest. The injury has sparked outrage and serious inquiry into the NFL and its safety practices for its players.
“45% of Americans think that tackle football is appropriate. Heterosexual men voted the most support for kids doing football. And conservatives were more likely to support youth tackle football. Just saying,” Behar said.
Earlier in the conversation, co-host Sunny Hostin shared an anecdote about her son who recovered from a hamstring injury playing football.
“He realized at that point, uh-oh. I could – that could happen to my brain, and so he quit,” she explained.
Sara Haines put in her two cents and said that Hamlin’s injury wouldn’t keep football fans from abandoning the tradition of the classic American sport.
“I grew up, and football was just the norm. My parents went to the games long after we were even in high school because the whole town did. I loved ‘Friday Night Lights,’ et cetera, et cetera,” she said. “What it might change is people that have kids coming up because like me, you even wouldn’t have known all the damage that could be done now.”
Though Haines believes football isn’t going anywhere, she expressed her concerns with Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. CTE is a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma that many football players have been diagnosed with.
The 45-year-old said she wouldn’t allow her children to fall in love with the sport. “I think a lot of mothers certainly feel that way and have felt that way for a long time, but it’s – the way my son describes it is, it’s a family,” she continued. “It’s a bonding experience that he had never had before.”
Behar suggested athletes take up a no contact sport like tennis or golf.
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