Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, attending the Sprint Cup race at Pocono on Sunday, said the NFL has a ways to go to catch up with NASCAR in terms of safety improvements for the sport.
“We are way behind,” Brown said. “NASCAR stepped up their safety concepts, and I think the drivers feel NASCAR is doing everything that can be done. So we are a little behind NASCAR in that respect. Someone in NASCAR realized there were certain things that could be done to make it safer. The same thing has to happen in football. It’s two different sports, but you want to make sure it’s as safe as you can make it.” Brown feels the NFL is just beginning to make the type of changes that can revolutionize the sport’s safety.
“This is the first time [the NFL] has really taken the safety situation seriously,” Brown said. “Part of that was forced on them because of the concussion lawsuits, but I think when we come out of this we’ll have a much safer game without taking away from the impact of the game.”
Brown, 77, returned to his NFL roots last month when he was hired by the Cleveland Browns to become a special adviser to the organization. Brown was attending the NASCAR race as a guest of Richard Petty and Andrew Murstein, the co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports. Brown is part of Murstein’s ownership group of the New York Lizards lacrosse team. Brown also attended the pre-race drivers’ meeting. (in part from ESPN.com)
