Joe Cardona says 'football is not war,' though he does find one unfortunate similarity in military and NFL
BOSTON -- Time was, the sport of football emulated life on the battlefield. That time, though, is long gone.
Joe Cardona -- who's entering his eighth season with the New England Patriots while also serving as a lieutenant in the United States Navy -- explained that current reality in detail in a guest column for Sports Illustrated on the Fourth of July.
"Football no longer mimics war or the values held close by our armed services," Cardona wrote, while stating that he has "struggled with my place between these two careers."
"Today," Cardona added, "football is not war; it is money."
Cardona stated that football being "big business" and "that is O.K." Yet he did find one unfortunate place where the U.S. military and the NFL have something in common.
"The military members putting their lives on the line see pennies on the dollar compared to our major defense contracts in our $773 billion defense budget. It's much like the NFL, where most players do not see nearly the value of revenue generated at the expense of their physical and cognitive health because it goes to ownership, the league or a handful of players who command a disproportionate allocation of the salary cap," Cardona wrote.
