Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy, one of the NFL’s most interesting players and an activist who speaks out for human rights and against domestic violence, has called breaking Joe Paterno’s leg “my proudest moment in college”.

“That dirtbag, man,” Levy said of Paterno, the longtime Penn State coach who has been accused of helping to cover up Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse. “We’ve gotta stop prioritizing sports over humanity. Just because somebody can throw a football or coach football, they’re excluded from their wicked acts.”

Levy accidentally broke Paterno’s shinbone in a sideline tackle in a game in 2006 between Penn State and Wisconsin. Sandusky, who worked as an assistant coach under Paterno for 30 years, was convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse in 2012, and is serving 30 to 60 years in a Pennsylvania prison.

In a lengthy profile in Men’s Journal, Levy also said he believes he has experienced potential symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), including occasional memory loss, brought on by repeated blows to the head from playing in the NFL.

“It’s frustrating,” Levy said “Because you put your body on the line, and the people that you’re working to make money for, they prioritize profit over the health of their greatest assets, and as a player that’s troubling.”

He said the physical cost of playing football would prevent him allowing his children to play in the future. “If I have kids, I’m damn sure not signing them up for football,” he said. “They need to know that it’s more than just bad shoulders, bad backs, and bad knees – something could be catastrophic.”

Levy, who participates in numerous Detroit-based charities and has a weekly column in the Detroit Free Press, wrote an editorial for the Players’ Tribune in April called Man Up, which railed against macho athletic culture and its tacit acceptance of sexual assault. “Some of my peers needed a man in their position to challenge their ideals directly,” he told Men’s Journal. “Just because you see it as a women’s issue doesn’t mean that we, as men, can’t say something.”

“He doesn’t fit the mold,” says Levy’s friend and former University of Wisconsin team-mate Brad Thorson. “I think that’s jarring for guys who expect him to be buying Bentleys.” Thorson, who is gay, added that Levy was keen to combat homophobia in NFL locker rooms.