Atlanta Falcons Tony Gonzalez says he would rather be hit in head than knees
By Bryan Rose
On the heels of the devastating and potentially career ending injury suffered by Miami Dolphins tight end Dustin Keller, Atlanta Falcons tight end and future Hall of Fame talent Tony Gonzalez says he would rather be hit in the head than the knees.
Gonzalez expressed the sentiment to USA Today recently:
"And Gonzalez said he is further incensed with the notion that recent rules changes — outlawing hits to the head area — have forced defenders to target the knees when tackling. When asked about the controversial play, Gonzalez didn’t hold back.“That was ridiculous on his part. It should be a fineable offense. That’s just not part of football — hitting a defenseless player in his knee, that’s something we all dread as players. That’s my nightmare,” Gonzalez told USA TODAY Sports. “Hit me in my head (instead).“Any player who does that, I don’t like it at all. I have no respect for that.”"
While I understand where Gonzalez is attempting to come from, destructive as a knee injury can be, a head injury can be far more damaging – potentially life threatening.
We’ve seen what repeated blows to the head can do to a NFL player like Junior Seau.