Tennessee Titans safety Bernard Pollard has expressed his belief that there will always be big hits, no matter what precautionary regulations the league bring in.
The NFL have been working hard to address the issue of concussion recently, but their efforts were undermined somewhat by a recent survey that revealed that 85% of 320 players asked would still play in the Super Bowl if they knew they had a head injury.
Pollard, who broke six ribs on the first play in last year's Super Bowl but carried on until the end, believes that such a willingness to play through injury and risk more serious problems is down to the need to entertain and not let people down.
"We are competitors. We want to go out there and entertain. That's all we are. We're entertainers. Guys want to go out there," ESPN quotes Pollard as saying.
"They don't want to let themselves down. They don't want to let their teammates down. They want to go out there and play, not thinking about, 'OK, what can this affect later on down the line?'
"This is a very violent sport, and you're just not going to cut down on that. You've got guys that are coming up every year that are bigger, stronger, faster, quicker. You're not going to stop these hard hits."
This year's Super Bowl will see the Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
