On Tuesday, New England Patriots safety Patrick Chung joined five teammates in deciding to opt-out of the 2020 NFL season over safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Chung joined “CBS This Morning” on Wednesday to talk about his decision and how tough it was to step away.
“Of course it’s a tough decision,” Chung said. “You want to play football. I’m in the latter end of my career, so I wanted to play football. But when it comes down to it, I feel that money is not that important. I have a girlfriend that’s pregnant, a baby girl coming soon, my son has a little asthma, my dad is 75 years old. I just felt like this was the best decision for my family to keep everyone safe. I don’t think it’s fair to them. So I decided to do that. It’s not over. It’s just postponed a little bit.”
When asked what head coach Bill Belichick’s reaction was to his choice Chung was brief on specifics but explained he was understanding.
“That (conversation) is private, but he understood,” Chung said. “He understands it’s a serious pandemic going on. He totally got it. You guys think Bill is this drill sergeant, but he’s actually a very caring person. So he totally understood, and that was it. It was a short phone call.”
Check out his full interview below.
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