Hall of Famer Namath to Piers Morgan: Blame Violence on the 'Animal We Are', Not Guns

Football Hall of Famer Joe Namath called out NBC's Bob Costas on Monday's Piers Morgan Tonight for gratuitously inserting his pro-gun control views into a NFL telecast: "As a football fan, I'm not up to that kind of a halftime take. There is a time and a place for it, and I wasn't pleased about that."

Namath also hinted that gun control efforts were ultimately futile because of humanity's unpredictable nature: "I think there's always going to be a problem dealing with firearms, with knives. It's the animal we are that cause the problems." [audio available here; video below the jump]

Morgan, who is notoriously in favor of draconian gun control measures, raised the Costas halftime controversy towards the end of his interview of former New York Jets quarterback: "A lot of controversy about what Bob Costas said at halftime in the game about gun control...you obviously heard about it. What is your view of what he said and his right to say it?"

While Namath indicated that he leaned towards the gun rights side of the debate, he acknowledged that "there are people working on this issue that are far brighter than I am, trying to find a medium - a proper way to go about it."

The transcript of the relevant portion of the Joe Namath interview from Monday's Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN:

PIERS MORGAN: A lot of controversy about what Bob Costas said at halftime in the game about gun control. Were you watching and – and – whether you were watching or not, you obviously heard about it. What is your view of what he said and his right to say it?

[CNN Graphic: "Namath On Costa's Comments"]

JOE NAMATH, FMR. NY JETS QUARTERBACK, HALL OF FAMER: Well, again, there's a time and a place. As a fan - a football fan - I'm not up to that kind of a halftime take. There is a time and a place for it, and I wasn't pleased about that. Regardless of how I feel about the issue, gun control – yeah, that one word 'control' would be wonderful. Then, we wouldn't have any problems with a lot of things in life - control. However, the reality of it is, there are people working on this issue that are far brighter than I am, trying to find a medium - a proper way to go about it - and we're very difficult animals to pinpoint - all of us. We're a little bit quirky. I think there's always going to be a problem dealing with firearms, with knives. It's the animal we are that cause the problems.

[CNN Graphic: "Namath On Gun Control"]