It seems to be the case every season, the new England Patriots and tom brady are remain among the favorites to appear in super bowl 54 in miami. But the National Football league is also dealing with controversy. While ebbing somewhat lately, the issue of players protesting during the National Anthem by taking a knee begun by former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick remains a sore point among some players, owners, fans and, of course, the president of the united states. Also concerns are rising about the physical damage caused by the violence of the game with players such as the colts andrew luck and the patriots Rob Gronkowski retiring earlier and scores of players with brain damage from concussions. This season more states will be offering legalized gambling on nfl action, fears that the sports integrity might be compromised if fans believed gambling had an influence. What will be the big storyline of the 2019 season . The players and the games themselves, or will the issues of the sport itself take on greater prominence . Here to talk about that is lynn swann. He joins me from los angeles. Lynn, thank you very much, indeed, for being here. Good morning. Gerry let me start, let me ask you, if i may, is the nfl remains the most popular sport in america, its grown even more popular in the last 20 or so years. But there are challenges. There are a lot of concerns about health and about some of these political issues around the game. Do you think the nfl can continue to grow in popularity, or do you think maybe were seeing peak nfl . Well, i think one of the hallmarks of the nfls popularity is that the nfl has always adapted and changed. Rule changes, the game itself has changed in terms of technique and style. It has changed based on the physicality and talents and ability of the players who are in the game today. Coaching innovations in terms of tactics and how you play the game. And so the league has always changed. At the heart, i think, of all those changes is having more information, and really the science of sport which has changed so much in terms of how athletes train, nutritional value, all the things they can do to become better performers and players of the game. But with that science comes more information in terms of there are some negative things that can occur. But i think well continue to see that therell be more research, therell be more facts that present themselves, and for the league to respond to. And if they respond in the proper manner, in the proper way to benefit the players, for their safe the deand safety and for the game, i think the game will continue to grow and do well. But the issue would be the lack of a response. Gerry do you think the game as its played today is safe enough . I mean, were seeing all these injuries and then all these people with concussion, brain damage from concussion later in their lives. Is the game safe enough as it is right now, or does something need to be done quickly to make it, to make it safer and healthier . I think everyone who plays the game of football, every institution, is doing everything they can to make the game as safe as it possibly can be. Can it be 100 safe . No. There will always be some injuries, there will always be a level of, shall we say, risk that goes with the game. But i think what you try and do is eliminate as much of that risk as possible. Individuals will make decisions about whether or not they want to play this game, and that will be their choice to or not to play the game. But i believe that every institution and when i say every institution, i mean both in the collegiate and professional levels are doing a lot of research, a lot of rules and implementations of rules and procedures and policies that protect the health of the players in the game. Gerry you want an exciting game and a safe game, and as you say, youve got to strike the right balance. You could do all kinds of things to make the game safer, but it wouldnt be quite as exciting, would it . Well, it wouldnt necessarily be football, but thats the big question, what will football evolve into in the future . I think there are people in the past and, certainly, when you talk to some of the older players, they talk about the game isnt the same and what the game used to be. But everybody can say that, game used to be something in the 40s, it was different in the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, and thats a point i made early on. It continues to evolve, and i think the game has gotten better with more information, more research in fact and basing decisions on that research and fact will help the game continue to move forward. Gerri what do you think of were we saw the surprise early retirement of andrew luck of the indianapolis colts. The average nfl players career is only three years long. What do you make of that . Does that seem about right to you . They go on and live healthy lives or, again, does that suggest theres something wrong with the game . No, i think it is a, an individual decision. And i think if you look at luck and what hes gone through as a quarterback, replacing Peyton Manning and the anticipation of what he would bring to the indianapolis colts, and then you look at his career and the injuries and Everything Else hes gone through and i dont blame him for coming to that decision. Thats his decision, his personal decision. You know, there are lots of players Barry Sanders, when he left detroit, i think it was nine years he played for detroit, made a decision to step away from the game. Lots of players will be making that decision based on their own personal goals and desires, their family. And, certainly, do not belittle or take lightly the impact that a spouse will have on a player and his kids will have on that father to get him to walk away from the game. Gerry let me ask you about another controversy thats been raging it died down a little bit last year, but the issue of players taking a knee during the National Anthem in protest of various things, police brutality. I think many people thought even if they were sympathetic with the player, and some of them were, that politics doesnt belong in football, that you go people go to an nfl game on a sunday or a college game on a saturday, they want to escape the kind of politics. We live in a hyperpartisan world. Do you think that that controversy has gone away, or do you think thats going to come back . Well, i dont know if its going to come back, but my viewpoint is that there should have been more dialogue between ownership and the union. The leagues office and the union should have gottennen together and talked about this as opposed to just making a knee jerk reaction to what was going on. You know, ive said this to a few people in the past, when you look at the game, if the players would turn around and look in the stands for any Football Game thats being played, whos in the stands . Its a whos who of everything in america in terms of from people who dont have a lot and people who have extreme wealth; people who are black, white, asian, his panek hispanic, people from all walks of life, every religion is there. When they come to a Football Game, theyre coming for the entertainment. Theyre not coming for a political viewpoint that they have to deal with, face or have an opinion on. They come to watch their team. When i played in pittsburgh, people dressed in black and gold. They didnt come to express a religious or any other political belief. So i think gerri do you think that was inappropriate . So you think it was inappropriate, the kneeling during i think if the players have an opinion and they take a political position, they should do so on their own time. Gerry got it. Owners of the Football Team are not out there expressing their political beliefs and what people should do during a game. Gerry leadership, let me i thought the players should use that platform but not on game day. Gerry stay with us. Coming up, were going to look at the sometimes controversial relationship, among other things, between the nfl and college football. Stay with us. When crabe stronger. Strong, with new nicorette coated ice mint. Layered with flavor. Its the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. For an amazing taste. That outlasts your craving. New nicorette ice mint. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. Scholls massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, youll move over 10 more than before. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. A cockroach can survive submergede guy. Underwater for 30 minutes. Wow. Yeah, wow. Not getting in today. Not on my watch. Pests never stop trying to get in. We never stop working to keep them out. Terminix. Defenders of home. After and eyemouth dryness i was finally diagnosed with sjogrens syndrome. Today, i follow my rheumatologist treatment plan and i am back on top of my game. You can be too. Visit backontop. Org to learn more. Gerry im back with nfl hall of famer lynn swann. Youre at the university of southern california, one of the great football sporting colleges in the nation. Theres been a lot of controversy about your own institution, about colleges generally too. Let me ask you about one particular aspect of that which is the question of whether or not College Players should be paid. They bring in huge amounts of revenue through their game, through their playing for the college, but they do it all for free. They get scholarships, of course, we know that, but they dont get paid the kind of money that their college benefits from. Do you think thats going to continue, the notion of the amateur College Athlete going to stay with us for a long time . You know, i do believe in the notion of amateurism, and i think the it will be with us. I think its also a discussion and conversation thats going on right now in a lot of different quarters throughout the ncaa and throughout many states. But its a conversation at this point. You know, weve got to try and do the right thing. Its difficult situation, so a lot of votes will be heard, a lot of things will be weighed as we move forward. Gerry sorry, of course, youre athletic director. At usc in particular, was one of the colleges featured in another controversy recently was over admissions, and marley some students particularly some students getting scholarships, and it turns out there was aled fraud going on alleged fraud going on. Are you confident youve dealt with that effectively at usc . Were dealing with that, but we do not comment on ongoing investigations, but at this particular point, i wont have much to add to that. Gerry let me ask you about gambling. This is now becoming legal, people were concerned about that, again, the effect that might have on players approach to games. And we have seen again in some other sports, notably in basketball, some controversies there in the past. Do you think gambling is going to enhance football, the nfl . Well, i dont know if its going to enhance it or not. I know it potentially is going to create revenue, so, i mean, just how much and for what side [laughter] remains to be seen. But i think it presents, again, it presents problems in terms of being able to monitor that. Those people who would make a bad decision relative to playing and placing a bet. There are rules on the college side for all of us, from administration to players and coaches, everybody involved in athlete arics that there is athletics that there is no gambling, gambling is not permitted. We continue to monitor that. We continue to educate our players on gambling and what to do and what not to do. So we take that very, very seriously in terms of the integrity of the game. Gerry final question, lynn, very quickly because weve got to wrap up, youre a foreman pittsburgh steeler former pittsburgh steeler, how to you see the current season getting underway . Steelers going to the super bowl again . Patriots . What do you think . I dont know if theyre going to go to the super bowl, even though i hope they start off by beating the patriots. I only wear a couple of colors, and thats cardinal and gold for usc, black and gold for the pittsburgh, im squarely on the side of the steelers in the nfl. Gerry thank you very much, lynn swann. Up next, the increasing concerns about how the violent nature of football is, in fact, affecting health and what it means for the future of the game. Stay with us. Guys, i want you to meet someone. This is jamie. Youre going to be seeing a lot more of him now. Im not calling him dad. Oh, nno. Look, [sighs] i get it. Some new guy comes in helping your mom bundle and save with progressive, but hey, were all in this together. Right, champ . Im getting more nuggets. How about some carrots . You dont want to ruin your dinner. Youre not my dad thats fair. Overstepped. Thats fair. To the wait did frowe just winners. Prouders everyone uses their phone differently. Thats why Xfinity Mobile lets you design your own data. Now you can share it between lines. Mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. Its a different kind of Wireless Network designed to save you money. Save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. Plus get 250 back when you buy a new samsung note. Click, call or visit a store today. Gerry joining me now is my colleague, wall street journal sports columnist, jason gaye, finest in the business oh, come on. Gerry what are we doing here . This is a very neutral jacket, a Wisconsin Badgers windbreaker. Yes, im a very impartial columnist for the wall street journal gerry good luck to the badgers. [laughter] lets talk, briefly, first about this health issue. You know, you wrote a column about andrew luck recently, and its a brutal, it is a brutal game. Its a merciless game, you wrote, actually. And, you know, at the same time, it has to be, doesnt it . To be football, to be exciting. It wouldnt be football if it wasnt that. How do we trade those two off . Sure. Theres unquestionably a primal appeal to football, and it wasnt that long ago that the nfl sold that violence. They would put out a best of hits and that kind of stuff. Weve dialed back that kind of thing in the last bunch of years, and i think whats changed is public perception, public reaction. You look at the reaction to Something Like luck, he wasnt really pilaried for leaving his team. The argument could be like, wow, he put the colts in a tough spot gerri he was booed in the streets though, wasnt he . [laughter] youre absolutely right. Gerry taking more beating. But compared to somebody like Barry Sanders who did this a generation ago and was really beaten up for it, weve changed. We understand why players might want to leave the game early. Gerry lets talk about the season just getting under way this weekend. Yeah. Gerry what are you looking forward to . Daniel jones and the giants straight to the top. I know thats what you want to hear. Gerry hes been looking fantastic in those 27 seconds hes played so far in the preseason. I hate to sound like a terribly boring football analyst, but how do you argue against the chiefs and the patriots in the afc . The chiefs really should have been in the super bowl last year. The patriots outfoxed them in arrowhead gerry what about the saintses . Well, thats the other story, where do the saints go from here . Back to back devastating playoffs. They have an incredible quarterback, can they get it finally done and get to that super bowl, which is in miami this year. I dont think were going to see the dolphins though. Gerry that seems to be everybodys agreed on that. What about the new players in the 2019 draft pick, everybodys excited about kyler, of course. Theyre not going to be competing for honors, are they . Well, its kind of an interesting twofer because the cardinals have a new coach, cliff kingsbury, they brought him in basically as the coach for this rookie quarterback. How that interaction is going to work is going to be very telling about where the nfl goes. The nfl, as we know, is a copycat kind of league. If these two guys hit it off and do well, youre going to see that model imitated. Gerry who else . Any of your badgers . Melvin gordon, i want to see him get back on the field for the los angeles chargers. Feels so weird to say that, l. A. Chargers. Ezekiel elliott came back for the cowboys. If i was in mexico, i wouldnt want to play in a cowboy game this weekend. I dont know how he does that. Come on, jerry. Gerry what about the International Game . Im english, ive lived in this country 25 years, i love football, its got a huge following in london. More game now playing in the stadium, specifically also they could host both soccer and football. Do you see it getting bigger internationally . I think so, and i think people who have had that experience of going to see games in london, it was easy to ridicule the jaguars, but people have said wembley is pretty electric for american football, and the Jacksonville Jaguars arent a joke. So i think that experiment will continue. Jer e jer and you say, yeah, can it go further . London does seem to be the place everybody talks about maybe expanding, having a franchise there. Do you think its going to happen . I dont know. You really have to commit to time zone issues and what does that mean for a team coming from overseas. Obviously, the team going there can sort of plan around it, but if this team is having to make that eight times a year, i think a more likely scenario is Something Like mexico city. Gerry what are you not looking for . Give me one thing when the nfl season starts you think, oh, no, not this. [laughter] i know you love the patriots. Great love and admiration for the city of cleveland. I want to caution browns fans about buying plane tickets to south florida. Gerry unbelievable the browns are going to be very improved, i think, but whether or not they are actual a super bowl team, theres incredible money on this. Theyre the most betupon team in las vegas. I dont know if its going to work out that way. Gerry jason, thank you very much, indeed. My thanks to jason. Now just ahead, i remembering one of the most infamous days in American History and why its time to end an important chapter related to that day. Stay with us. Fact is, every Insurance Company hopes you drive safely. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Every curve, every innovation, every feeling. A product of mastery. Lease the 2019 es 350 for 379 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Play it cool and escape heartburn fast with new tums chewy bites cooling sensation. Tum tum tum tums with new tums chewy bites cooling sensation. With tough food, your dentures may slip and fall. Fixodent ultramax hold gives you the strongest hold ever to lock your dentures. So now you can eat tough food without worry. Fixodent and forget it. Gerry next week will mark the 18th anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks. No one will ever forget the horrors that came visiting on that sunny morning or, indeed, what came next; a just war against the taliban in afghanistan, the men who had nurtured and protected the terrorists in their nest. So to many it feels strange that the u. S. Now seem to be on the brink of a deal with the taliban. These, after all, are the successors to the people who took away thousands of lives on that day and ruined many, many more. But after 18 years of americas longest war, the time for peace is surely at hand. Afghanistan is not, sadly, the stable country that wed hoped to build, but those responsible for 9 11 have been held accountable for the ultimate authority. America is safer now, and afghanistan itself is less of a threat today than it was on that morning all those years ago. Its no dishonor at all to the thousands of american and allied servicemen and women who gave their lives in the afghan war to say the battle is over. Well never forget them, nor will we ever be able to repay the debt we owe them. You dont make peace with your friends, one wise leader once said, you make peace with your enemies. Be sure to follow me on facebook, twitter and instagram, and ill be back next week right here on the wall street journal at large. Thank you very much for joining us. [ train whistle blows ] a texassized model railway. Do you have any idea what steve spent to put this together . Ive always heard 1 million. Built by a man on a mission. Hes telling his life story in trains. He is. He is. Yes. Whenever he would add something to it, he said, you want to see your inheritance again . An inheritance freighted with memories. So tell me the truth. Did yall make out at that Movie Theater . No, not that one. [ both laugh ] will their plan fall apart . Your first cut could be the end of this railroad. Well. [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ] [ bird caws ]