ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 31: Head Coach Nick Saban celebrates after winning 24 to 7 against the Washington Huskies during the 2016 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at the Georgia Dome on December 31, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

In wake of concussion controversy, Nick Saban gives an impassioned defense of football

Nick Saban defends football despite concussion worries

Concussions and head injuries have been a major topic for college football and the NFL over the past few years, as more and more research has come out over the impact that football may have on the human brain.

On Wednesday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was asked about the injury risk for football, and Saban defended the sport that he has been a part of for decades.

Via Barrett Sallee of CBS:

"We're all working very hard on for player safety so that we don't have issues," he said in one of the smaller interview sessions at The Wynfrey Hotel. "But I think it's a little unfair in some ways to football when there's other sports that you never talk about that people seem to be totally fine with that actually have just as many or more issues when it comes to concussions and injuries as football does. But we always talk about the issues that we have in football."

Saban was likely referencing a 2015 study that showed high concussion risks for girls and boys soccer in high, where the rates were nearly equal to or actually greater than high school football.

Saban went on to mention that he believes those within football are doing their best to try and keep the sport safe, and that he believes is very vital to team building.

"It's a great team game," he said. "There are a lot of lessons to be learned in any athletic competition, but football — because of the number of participants and number of people who can contribute — is phenomenal."

[H/T CBS]