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The colorful characters that occupy boxing's heavyweight division have a wide range of reasons for entering the harsh world of the fight game. Ray Edwards might be the only one to do so because he thought it would reduce his chances of getting injured.
Edwards, who spent seven seasons in the NFL playing defensive end with the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, now makes his living squaring off against huge men intent on punching him in the head as frequently as possible.
Yet Edwards is adamant that the brutal and unpredictable nature of pro football makes his new career choice a safer option with a bigger long-term upside than putting himself on the line inside the gridiron.
"It might sound crazy to some people but for sure I believe boxing is a safer sport than football now," Edwards told Yahoo! Sports. "Football is the only sport that is 100-percent injury prone.
"[In football], you don't know what is coming, where you are going to get hit, how you are going to get hit," he continued. "You play for a long time, chances are you are going to tear your MCL or ACL. You can break your leg, snap your femur, break your arm, break your neck."
But what about boxing?
A glance at the battered faces of post-fight combatants tells only part of the story of a sport where inflicting pain and damage with the fists is an intrinsic facet of any contest.
However, while Edwards respects and understands the risks posed by his new profession, from his point of view, those dangers are more acceptable than those NFL stars face every week.
"In boxing you know where the hits are coming from – it is the guy stood in front of you," Edwards said. "In boxing you might break your hand or break your nose and if you get knocked out you can get a concussion. But also, the referee is right there and you are more protected. In football, you never know. The game moves at such a pace that you might never see it coming. You can get hit when you are completely defenseless."
Football's dangers have never been more in the spotlight, and with all factors considered, some doctors are open-minded to the theory that it may be even more dangerous than boxing.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--former-nfl-player-ray-edwards--boxing-is-safer-than-football-152349231.html
Total bust with Atlanta and take it from a guy who lives in the area, their fanbase is still bitching about signing him. I'm still oh so so thankful the VIkings let the guy walk when they did. Nobody benefited more from Jarrod Allen's awesomeness in Minnesota than Edwards did.