National Football League

Pollard: NFL will be gone in 30 years

Published Jan. 27, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

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Ravens safety Bernard Pollard sees two things in pro football's future: death and disintegration.

“Thirty years from now I don’t think it will be in existence,” Pollard told CBS Sports. “I could be wrong. It’s just my opinion, but I think with the direction things are going — where [NFL rules makers] want to lighten up, and they’re throwing flags and everything else — there’s going to come a point where fans are going to get fed up with it.”

It’s ironic for Pollard to be making these statements, since he is known for hard hits like the helmet-to-helmet shot he delivered to New England running back Stevan Ridley in the AFC championship game, which knocked him unconscious and forced him to cough up the football.

Pollard thinks that the way the game is evolving with players getting bigger and faster, something tragic may occur on the field, rather than something years down the line caused by concussions.

“The only thing I’m waiting for — and, Lord, I hope it doesn’t happen — is a guy dying on the field," he said. "We’ve had everything else happen there except for a death. We understand what we signed up for, and it sucks.

“Like I said, I hope I’m wrong, but I just believe one day there’s going to be a death that takes place on the field because of the direction we’re going.”

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