Bob Costas and Piers Morgan couldn't agree more on one thing: Something has to be done about the pervasive gun culture in the United States.

And that problem, Costas said, becomes even more of an issue when you pair it with the culture of the National Football League, which has seen its share of tragic events, including the recent Jovan Belcher murder-suicide.

NBC sportscaster Costas sat down with CNN's Piers Morgan on Monday night to discuss the growing debate over gun control. Both have faced criticism after taking on the issue -- Costas during a recent halftime show of a "Sunday Night Football" game and Morgan on Twitter.

Costas said the issue is a growing one, especially for NFL players, many of whom reportedly say they carry a weapon for security or some of whom have been arrested.

So does Costas think that Belcher's suicide after killing the mother of his child means the league is at a breaking point?

"I don't know if it approaches crisis; perhaps it does, but it's at a crossroads because there's an issue about the fundamental nature of the game. It's so popular and so profitable, but it takes a tremendous toll on many of those who play it. Not just body, but as we're now learning, mind and emotions," Costas said on "Piers Morgan Tonight."

"And it's a legitimate question to ask whether, for some players at least, the toll that the game takes, brain trauma, medications that they may take, enhance performance or deal with pain, all those things. The culture of the league increases the likelihood of abhorrent behavior. It's possible."

Costas said regardless of what side of the gun debate you fall on, there is a simple rule that cannot be debated.

"It is infinitely more likely that something bad will happen if you're armed than something good will happen," he told Morgan.

Shortly before the taping of the Costas-Morgan interview, a shooting occurred not far from the CNN headquarters in New York. It's an example, Morgan said, of how pervasive guns are and also how numb Americans have become to a dangerous issue.

Costas said the real problem is the way guns have of escalating a situation.

His case in point: George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin.

Putting aside the facts of the case or race concerns, Costas asked one simple question.

"What does common sense tell you about the likelihood of that confrontation ever taking place in the first place if George Zimmerman was not carrying a gun?

It is a comment you might not have expected months ago from Costas. He said he never intended to create a pulpit of any kind but he felt he had to say something following Belcher's suicide.

And while critics argued a halftime show wasn't the time or the place for the debate, Costas said he couldn't remain quiet. The comments that followed mostly trashed Costas for speaking out.

"It wasn't my intent to become a spokesperson in any way for this issue," Costas told Morgan. "But if no matter how imperfectly I may have done it a week ago Sunday, if this has sparked a conversation and in some small way influenced people's behavior, so much the better."

It was not lost on him that many people took him to task for only speaking out about guns. And on Monday night, Costas addressed those critics.

"Jovan Belcher had eight guns. And for those who, by the way, say what if (his girlfriend) Kasandra Perkins had a gun; there were guns in that house," he said. "She'd have to have it holstered like she's Wild Bill Hickok in the old West to have it at the ready when Jovan Belcher came barging through the door."

But comments on Twitter kept flying: What if it were a stabbing? What if it were drunken driving? Or what about the situation with the Dallas Cowboys, with Josh Brent being arrested on suspicion of intoxication manslaughter after being in a crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown Jr.