Justin Timberlake Says His Son Will Never Play Football at Super Bowl Press Conference

During his Super Bowl LII press conference on Thursday, Justin Timberlake was asked a candid question many parents have been asking over the past few years — will he let his son play football.

“Oh that question,” Timberlake said with a groan. “I’d rather not think about it because he’s about to turn three. But he did come to rehearsals yesterday and I was shocked how quickly he could cover 100 yards. So you know, speed runs in our family. I’ve been running routes too. I just want to throw this out there to Belechick, if all of your receivers go down I’ll be ready to go, so shoot me a text.”

The reporter rephrased the question, which prompted a blunt answer from Timberlake.

“He will never play football,” Timberlake said. “I mean yeah, it’s kind of like that thing where my main objective is that he becomes a great person, and if he want to get into the arts or spors then, yeah, I would fully support that. I think I can hopefully offer him some advice on what to do and what not to do. But right we’re working on out manners. It’s like one thing at a time.”

This comes a potentially awkward time for the NFL, given that Timberlake will be performing at the halftime show of their biggest game of the year on Sunday.

The conversation over whether children should be playing football has come up often in recent years with studies revealing 99 percent of former NFL players who donated their brain showed signs of a degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

Timberlake’s and wife Jessica Biel had their son, Silas, back in April 2015.

The Grammy Award-winning artist’s newest album, Man of the Woods, drops on Friday just days before his halftime show performance. Along with other comments made during his press conference, Timberlake also made headlines on Thursday when the Parents Television Council released a letter asking the star to keep the performance “family friendly” this year, referencing his top-ripping incident with Janet Jackson back in 2004.

“The fallout of your performance during Super Bowl XXXVIII has left an indelible mark. You really threw us – and millions of parents who were watching with their kids,” the letter read.