SANTA CLARA – Tony Wragge was the first 49er to speak to a group of reporters in the locker room this morning.
He wanted to talk about the Saturday’s violence at Candlestick park, and when he was asked if he gets worried for his family’s safety during a game, his wife and two daughters who watch from the stands, Wragge almost shouted, “Yeah, heck yeah.”
Here’s the transcript of everything he said.
Q: Do you ever get concerned that your family isn’t safe in the stands?
WRAGGE: Yeah, heck yeah. I’m worried all the time. It’s something that concerns me, it has, especially the last couple years. It could become an issue, any situation can arise, you just have to be prepared for things like that and know that security’s going to do their job as well as I’m supposed to do my job.
Q: That’s significant, most players would say it’s not their concern what goes on in the stands and in the parking lot.
WRAGGE: That’s my family, that’s my concern. The guys that put the shoulder pads on and the jerseys – that’s my family too. I’m there to take care of them and help them do their job, but I’ve got a wife and kids in the stands and that’s a concern too. That’s my family also, so I’m looking at it from both ends.
Q: Over the years has your family seen things like this before?
WRAGGE: Fans have a right to obviously voice their opinion – they bought a ticket. They can do what they want, but you have to realize that there’s other families out there too, not just my family. Anybody’s family comes to the game and we want to make that a safe environment for everybody to enjoy. It’s just a matter of being a Good Samaritan, you know? Do the right thing. Make the right choice and good things will happen.
Q: Would you say, locker room-wise, is that something players are aware of an concerned about?
WRAGGE: Yes, absolutely. It’s a concern, and I know the NFL has addressed, and I just feel like it’s an ongoing battle. It just goes back and forth. Not against the NFL, but with John Q. Public. It’s something that we as players have addressed with the NFL and the NFL has addressed it. It’s just a continual thing. It’s continually being worked on. And I’m happy that the NFL addresses it. It makes me ever-so-happy that I can go do my job and not worry about it so much, but it’s definitely something that weighs on my mind. It’s probably the biggest thing I think about other than blocking a 3-technique on Sundays.
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