In an upcoming HBO "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" feature on a Bears squad that President Barack Obama dubbed "the greatest team in NFL history," Ditka says "the risk is worse than the reward" of playing football, telling Gumbel he would dissuade children from participating in the sport.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutd ... 54897.html"If you had an 8-year-old kid now, would you tell him you want him to play football?" Ditka asks Gumbel.
When Gumbel answers that he wouldn’t, he returns to the question to Ditka. Ditka shakes his head no.
"Nope — and that’s sad," Ditka said in the piece. "I wouldn’t. My whole life was football. I think the risk is worse than the reward. I really do."