Jamal Adams Clarifies Comments on Football Field Being 'Perfect Place to Die'

New York Jets safety Jamal Adams addressed Tuesday his comments that the football field is "the perfect place to die" after head coach Todd Bowles instructed him to "clear it up."

According to ESPN.com's Rich Cimini, Adams told reporters he was conveying his love for the game when asked about chronic traumatic encephalopathy and didn't mean to offend those who have been affected by the disease. 

"Honestly, I really didn't see it getting that far," Adams said. "I was speaking about being passionate about the game that I love. I understand that some families were affected by this disease. I definitely didn't mean it in any type of way.

"My words were simply that I'm very passionate about what I do. I said at the beginning [of the forum] ... I'm all about making the game safer. I understand CTE and the symptoms and whatnot, and how families are affected by it, but it's simply about passion."

Adams' remarks—which were made at a forum for season-ticket holders that featured an appearance by commissioner Roger Goodell—came on the same day Jets cornerback Morris Claiborne expressed a similar sentiment. 

"A lot of people don’t believe me when I say this," Claiborne told the New York Daily News' Manish Mehta. "But I would die out there on that football field. This is my life. This is what I do. I give it all. I would die out there."

On July 25, a research study was published showing CTE had been found in the brains of 110 of the 111 former NFL players examined, further emphasizing the link between football and the degenerative brain disease.