Last week, Touchdown Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to Brian Dawkins, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member and Philadelphia Eagles legend.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Dawkins discussed representing Boehringer & Lilly’s It Takes 2 health initiative, spreading awareness about getting tested for kidney disease, and his thoughts on new NFL rules limiting defensive hits and tackles to make the game safer.
“If you go to TestYourKidneys.com, you’ll see the initiative itself and why it’s important for me,” Dawkins explained. “One of the things that I’ve had to do as an athlete is be extremely proactive with my health, very proactive when it comes to my health on the field, but also off the field, with my health. So once I heard about some of the things that would put you in the scope of potentially having chronic kidney disease, it is type two diabetes and high blood pressure.”
Brian has joined Eli Lilly’s It Takes 2 campaign to help raise awareness on an issue that he and his family have dealt with for generations: chronic kidney disease. The risk factors are common in over 35 million Americans – with 90% of them being unaware of their risk.
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Dawkins played 16 seasons in the NFL, earning a reputation for being one of the most ferocious hitters in the league. He shared his thoughts on the defense’s being forced to adjust to new safety rules installed to protect the offense in recent years.
“If everyone in the National Football League suddenly no longer gave big hits, that would be a huge issue,” Dawkins said. “Then, you can say that the rules have completely changed the game, and there’s no more contact and all of those things. I don’t see it like that. I see certain guys, certain teams, still bringing that; I call it unadulterated sting.
“It’s still putting that stank on folk, and they’re not getting flagged for it. So it can be done. You have to change how you do things, change your angle, and make sure you lead one with your shoulder rather than your head– all of those things. You still can be aggressive.”
Tackling area, roughing the passer, and hip-drop tackles are a few of the rules the NFL has enforced strongly over the past few seasons.
“You can still put that stank down without getting fined or penalized. So, for me, I’m talking about being a professional. You have to be a professional at your job if all of a sudden, whatever it is that you do in your life as a profession, they tell you that you have to begin to do things a little bit differently in specific areas, and it’s hard, and it’s tough, would you find a way to do it?
“It’s the same thing in football; I would find a way to do it. I was, I’m still going to get fined. It is what it is. I’m going to get fined, but I’m going to adjust so I won’t get as many fines as I would if I did not adjust or be on the field to be helped, to help my team, and not get kicked out of games.”
The following links provide more information on Eli Lilly’s It Takes 2 & TestYourKidneys.com.