A week ago, Memphis nose tackle Dontari Poe was just a future lower-first-round or high-second-round NFL Draft pick who might have been headed to the Steelers, who could be looking for a long-term replacement for Casey Hampton, at No. 24. That's nothing to sneeze at, obviously. But after a ridiculous NFL Combine performance, not only is Poe probably out of the Steelers' reach, but he's catching the attention of none other than President Barack Obama, who mentions Poe without naming him in a discussion about concussions.
↵↵↵Obama: Concussions is a tough one ...
↵... I don’t know whether you can make football, football if there’s not some pretty significant risk factors. Part of the problem is just the speed and the size of these guys now is — you watch the old tapes from the '50s and the '60s —
↵[Bill Simmons]: They're like our size.
↵Obama: Yes. I mean, they look like they’re going in slow motion. And now, what, they just had the Combine and they’re talking about some guy who is like 340, who runs a 4.8 —
↵BS: A quarterback —
↵Obama: — a three-foot vertical. And I don’t know what you do if a guy like that hits you.
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Obama also drops some pretty serious NBA knowledge in the interview, if you're curious, and he also discusses the stresses of throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game.
↵For more on the NFL Draft, check out Mocking The Draft.