Chris Borland retires over concussion concerns

[Hoya81]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12496480&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F9gBn2c62yN%22%7D

Chris Borland to retire over concerns about long term brain injury.

 

[semsox]

Wow

 

[GBrushTWood]

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12496480&src=desktop&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F9gBn2c62yN%22%7D

Chris Borland to retire over concerns about long term brain injury.

 
Wow, holy shitballs. I don't know the Niners roster very well, but losing both Borland and Willis seems like a killer to this teams chances.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Stunning news.

 

[Freddy Linn]

As a third-round pick in 2014, Borland signed a four-year contract with a $617,436 signing bonus.  The 49ers have the right to recover 3/4ths of that amount ($463,077).
 

 
PFT
 
That isn't a whole lot of money.

 

[TFP]

What an epic nut punch for that franchise and fans. Completely respect Borland for passing up millions and taking on so much uncertainty in his life. Wonder if there are more to come.

That's four guys under 30 this offseason. It's certainly becoming much more of a trend than I can remember. Maybe not in pure numbers but in the quality of guys turning down a lot of money.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Wow.  That's genuinely shocking.  Unfortunately, I can't say that he made a bad decision.

 

[soxhop411]

So this will lead to sweeping changes in the NFL no?


Mainly to stop concisions?

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Really surprising. He was great last season and seemed to be the perfect replacement for Willis next year.
 
Even more stunning is that he is 24. This isn't some veteran retiring because of injuries.

 

[Laser Show]

Really surprising. He was great last season and seemed to be the perfect replacement for Willis next year.
 
Even more stunning is that he is 24. This isn't some veteran retiring because of injuries.

Yea I think the incredible thing is he's doing this preemptively. To avoid being the next Duerson.

I'll be really interested to see if anyone else follows suit now that he's done this. I think he's the first to retire because of precautionary brain injury concerns, right?

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

So this will lead to sweeping changes in the NFL no?


Mainly to stop concisions?

No

 

[nazz45]

So this will lead to sweeping changes in the NFL no?


Mainly to stop concisions?

Problem is that there really aren't rules that can be installed to protect linebackers, defensive linemen and offensive linemen. Those guys ram their heads into each other, what, 60-80 times a week. Anyway, the NFL will sleep just fine until the Andrew Lucks and Russell WIlsons of the league start retiring at age 27 due to the same concerns.
 
It's sad that Borland felt he needed to play through a possible concussion in traning camp because he was worried about making the team. It's great that he realized putting that type of pressure on himself - and risking his future health in the process - was no longer worth it. More players need to follow suit - not necessarily retire - but not feel pressured to play with or come back too soon from mild brain injuries.

 

[wibi]

It's great that he realized putting that type of pressure on himself - and risking his future health in the process - was no longer worth it. More players need to follow suit - not necessarily retire - but not feel pressured to play with or come back too soon from mild brain injuries.

 
He could financially afford to make that decision.  The real sad part is there are more than a few guys who could not afford to make a decision and who have worked all their lives to get this payday.

 

[Marciano490]

 
He could financially afford to make that decision.  The real sad part is there are more than a few guys who could not afford to make a decision and who have worked all their lives to get this payday.

Not really. He can live off his NFL earnings for a year or two, but unless he's got a helluva PM, he's going right into the work force for the next 40 years. Or is there family money I don't know about?

 

[dcmissle]

Willis, Woriilds, Borland ... All 30 or under, the latter two substantially so.

The Mike Golics of the world are going to get their panties twisted if this continues. Even though Mike fucking Ditka recently said he would not allow his kid to play football. In retrospect.

 

[Super Nomario]

Not really. He can live off his NFL earnings for a year or two, but unless he's got a helluva PM, he's going right into the work force for the next 40 years. Or is there family money I don't know about?

I think this is the other element to this decision, other than the concussion / long-term health concerns. In order to make big money, Borland would have to play out his rookie contract (three more seasons), plus sign and play out at least most of a long-term deal (say another three seasons). If he was making $3 MM / year (which would probably still underpay him relative to his production as a rookie), he might take the risk for another year or two, but for $600 K? And having to play another five or six years to make real money when you're already concerned about your health future seems pretty crazy.

 

[Leather]

I think this is the other element to this decision, other than the concussion / long-term health concerns. In order to make big money, Borland would have to play out his rookie contract (three more seasons), plus sign and play out at least most of a long-term deal (say another three seasons). If he was making $3 MM / year (which would probably still underpay him relative to his production as a rookie), he might take the risk for another year or two, but for $600 K? And having to play another five or six years to make real money when you're already concerned about your health future seems pretty crazy.

 
I agree he made a remarkably level-headed decision.  That being said: $600,000/yr is real money.  I don't know what his post-NFL employment outlook is, but I presume he thinks he can do better than going to work for $30,000/yr as a sales associate.   If I'm wrong, it makes his decision even more remarkable.  However, like Wibi said, there are a lot of NFL players that don't have the luxury of tapping out after a few years because the alternative employment options are pretty grim.  That, in turn, raises potential questions of whether the NFL is going to turn into a league made up of poor kids who can't afford to quit, regardless of the physical risk.
 
It's a potential shit storm brewing between the NFLPA and the Owners:  how to give young talent enough money to overlook the growing body of evidence that football will kill you, but still encourage players to stick around long enough to make the contract worth it for the team.  

 

[Was (Not Wasdin)]

I think this is the other element to this decision, other than the concussion / long-term health concerns. In order to make big money, Borland would have to play out his rookie contract (three more seasons), plus sign and play out at least most of a long-term deal (say another three seasons). If he was making $3 MM / year (which would probably still underpay him relative to his production as a rookie), he might take the risk for another year or two, but for $600 K? And having to play another five or six years to make real money when you're already concerned about your health future seems pretty crazy.

 
We have no idea what Borland's evaluation process was, but I would not be surprised if this is actually a big part of it.  People commenting on his retirement act like "that next big contract" was automatic.  It wasn't, at all.  Any number of things could have kept him from hitting the big payday.  Look at Ridley- he is 26, with two major knee injuries (one in college, one in the pros) at least one concussion that we know of, and no one is beating down his door to pay him a lot of money, despite the fact that he has been a pretty productive guy.  If I'm Borland, that probably scares me just as much as the concussion issue.  As Leather notes above, the NFL is becoming very stratified in terms of salary structure, and it may not be to long before we see a league where the stars get paid huge dollars, and teams try to plug in a rotating cast around them at real small dollars (rookies, "bargain" vets, guys coming back from injury, etc.).  

 

[Mugsy's Walk-Off Bunt]

Any SF folks who've seen the guy in action - on and off the field - does he have any potential for a job on camera or in a front office/league type position? Or is he more likely to find an alt path.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

Any SF folks who've seen the guy in action - on and off the field - does he have any potential for a job on camera or in a front office/league type position? Or is he more likely to find an alt path.

 
 
http://news.yahoo.com/defender-borland-retires-24-over-health-fears-042208142--nfl.html;_ylt=AwrTccC8YQhViNAAWXonnIlQ
 

 
Borland said the decision by Willis played no role in his decision, which includes plans to return to college and study sports management.

 
Wish him well...

 

[SumnerH]

Splitting this out, it seems to have enough steam to carry a thread.
 
This is a player who was still projected to be pretty good and had a contract, not a marginal player making an excuse for retirement.  In a vacuum it's just one guy, but the way evidence has been piling up it seems likely that more will follow.  And it gives more pause to parents who are leery about letting their kids play. 

 

[dcmissle]

It's not just him. Worilds was on the cusp of a significant FA contract and stepped aside. So even if one wants to write Patrick Willis as another Jim Brown one-off -- I'm into Canton by the age of 30 -- this bears watching.

Then there is the matter of youth participation,

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/popwarner/pop-warner-youth-football-participation-drops-nfl-concussion-crisis-seen-causal-factor

 

[E5 Yaz]

Peter King gets snippy on Twitter with Ross Tucker over reaction to this story

 

[Leather]

Florio loudly proclaiming on Twitter that this is a non-story.

 

[Van Everyman]

Peter King gets snippy on Twitter with Ross Tucker over reaction to this story

For once I kind of agree with PK. Not that Borland does represent a trend – but you can't help but wonder given that we are now a few years into the kinder, gentler "player safety" NFL and the head trauma crisis doesn't yet seem to be abating.

Also, I imagine that someone as (uncomfortably) close to the game as PK has to be incredibly sensitive to this storyline as any momentum it does generate could pretty much spell the end of his livelihood and, as importantly, all the people whose asses his lips are Krazy Glued to.

 

[Hagios]

It's not just him. Worilds was on the cusp of a significant FA contract and stepped aside. So even if one wants to write Patrick Willis as another Jim Brown one-off -- I'm into Canton by the age of 30 -- this bears watching.

Then there is the matter of youth participation,

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/page/popwarner/pop-warner-youth-football-participation-drops-nfl-concussion-crisis-seen-causal-factor

 
I think football has a real problem and it will not survive over the long haul if this keeps up. I think they may be forced to adopt a style like 7-on-7 football (pass only) with rugby-style wrap-up tackles.
 
Having said that, I think the issue is overblown. Road cycling is far more dangerous but you don't see any backlash against cycling.
 
edit: maybe cycling isn't as dangerous on a per-capita basis.

 

[E5 Yaz]

 
I think football has a real problem and it will not survive over the long haul if this keeps up. I think they may be forced to adopt a style like 7-on-7 football (pass only) with rugby-style wrap-up tackles.
 
Having said that, I think the issue is overblown. 

 
:speechless:

 

[Dogman]

 
I think football has a real problem and it will not survive over the long haul if this keeps up. I think they may be forced to adopt a style like 7-on-7 football (pass only) with rugby-style wrap-up tackles.
 
Having said that, I think the issue is overblown. Road cycling is far more dangerous but you don't see any backlash against cycling.
 
edit: maybe cycling isn't as dangerous on a per-capita basis

 

 

[EdRalphRomero]

I agree that football has a real problem. I find it odd though that all the focus seems to be on the tackling rules, and helmet types and ignores the elephant in the room.  In 1980 the average rookie NFL offensive lineman weighed 262 lbs.  Over the next 15 years that number increased by 50 lbs and has remained roughly steady since.   While O-lineman are at the upper end of the disparity, the trend is true in all positions. 
 
I would argue the NFL doesn't have a concussion problem, it has a PED problem that manifests itself in a variety of symptoms, with concussions/brain injury being the worst of the bunch.  I understand the testing that is in place, but it is not working.  And it permeates all levels of football.  Check out the recruiting class of high school seniors this year on a recruiting website.  There is a 6'5" guard who weighs 330 lbs as a high school senior.  There is a 320 lb. Defensive Tackle.  These are high school kids who are bigger than the monsters of the NFL were 25 years ago.  Why?  Because of nutrition?  Or exercise regimens?  Or because PEDs permeate the sport and fundamentally change the bodies of the participants?  And unlike baseball where the damage is done primarily to the PED recipient, in football those who use can destroy the lives of those who don't. 
 
It isn't about the helmets or the hits (although those are contributing factors and reasonable steps should be taken).  It is about the artificial size of the players. 

 

[E5 Yaz]

SeifertESPN Kevin Seifert
.@Gladwell theory: Concussion awareness allows for choice. Poor more likely to take risk, for prospects of NFL money. http://t.co/LYYZbzMnIk

 

[TheRooster]

We've seen this story before: Poor more likely to take risk, for prospects of NFL boxing money.

 

[dirtynine]

I would argue the NFL doesn't have a concussion problem, it has a PED problem that manifests itself in a variety of symptoms, with concussions/brain injury being the worst of the bunch. 

 
It has both problems.  NFL vets who played in the pre-PED era obviously suffered greatly too.  
 
Why the NFL never got taken to the national woodshed over PED use like baseball did, though, will always bother me.  

 

[Marciano490]

 
It has both problems.  NFL vets who played in the pre-PED era obviously suffered greatly too.  
 
Why the NFL never got taken to the national woodshed over PED use like baseball did, though, will always bother me.  

 
For one thing, Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Favre, the Mannings - basically the guys who are and have been the face of the NFL - look a lot less like steroid abusers than McGwire and Sosa did.

 

[Jnai]

I don't think Borland is really a story, in that it was a single case of an athlete that made a personal decision. I do think NFL safety in general is a huge story, especially during childhood.
 
I wonder whether private highschools or public highschools will first ban football. It's as close to demonstrably bad as a sport gets during an important developmental period. Except for the fact we like watching it (and holy shit, is it fun to watch), there's no good incentive to be giving kids brain damage before they turn 18. On the one hand, you might think that private schools will be more progressive and out in front of this sort of thing as the medical evidence begins to mount. On the other hand, you might think that at some point voter sentiment shifts and school boards change enough to cause meaningful changes in public schools.
 
I guess we can see if SoSH exists in another 15 years, but I would be surprised if football was being played at a competitive level at places like St. Johns and Xavarian and other prep schools in the Boston area. 15 years donw the line, I assume there will have been developed good testing protocols and imaging methods for CTE, and there's just going to be too much evidence that repeated concussions during development are terrible for your long term neurological health.

 

[Marciano490]

My understanding is there are very, very few collegiate boxing programs because of insurance rates.  I imagine liability costs will push football out of high schools and colleges before ethical considerations.

 

[Jnai]

My understanding is there are very, very few collegiate boxing programs because of insurance rates.  I imagine liability costs will push football out of high schools and colleges before ethical considerations.

 
This is a really good point.

 

[Hoya81]

 
It has both problems.  NFL vets who played in the pre-PED era obviously suffered greatly too.  
 
Why the NFL never got taken to the national woodshed over PED use like baseball did, though, will always bother me.  

There's also no one NFL stat that held in the same regard as the HR record.

 

[nolasoxfan]

We've seen this story before: Poor more likely to take risk, for prospects of NFL boxing money.

 
We've seen this story before: Poor more likely to take risk, for prospects of NFL boxing mining lumbering sherpa [name your dangerous profession here] money.

 

[Leather]

Smoking rates have declined markedly over the past 50 years. Not sure that's a great example.

 

[Marciano490]

Smoking rates have declined markedly over the past 50 years. Not sure that's a great example.

 
And people eat crappy food because it's cheap and easy to prepare and a lot of places don't have accessible grocery stores.
 
I'm not disputing the premise that people do shit that's bad for them - and I remember a survey of Olympic athletes from awhile back where a huge majority said they'd be willing to die young to win gold - but saying people eat big macs and smoke American Spirits so the NFL machine will churn on is a little too 10,000 feet.

 

[Leather]

 
And people eat crappy food because it's cheap and easy to prepare and a lot of places don't have accessible grocery stores.
 
I'm not disputing the premise that people do shit that's bad for them - and I remember a survey of Olympic athletes from awhile back where a huge majority said they'd be willing to die young to win gold - but saying people eat big macs and smoke American Spirits so the NFL machine will churn on is a little too 10,000 feet.

 
Well, there are also two separate questions, one of which the Smokes and Shakes argument doesn't address.  The first is: will athletes move away from football (and, presumably, into less risky sports such as soccer or baseball) due to the health risks.  The second is: will the American public tolerate (or, at least, continue to throw discretionary time and money at) a sport where allusions to the players as gladiators becomes increasingly less metaphorical.    Either one will kill football, it doesn't have to be either/or.
 
I think it's the latter that sends the Kings and Florios of the world scurrying, because while Borland leaving is bad for football (small f), the story of why he's leaving is bad for the NFL.   It's easier to just say "One guy doesn't a story make!", even though that's really not the story at all.

 

[joe dokes]

 
I think football has a real problem and it will not survive over the long haul if this keeps up. I think they may be forced to adopt a style like 7-on-7 football (pass only) with rugby-style wrap-up tackles.
 
Having said that, I think the issue is overblown. Road cycling is far more dangerous but you don't see any backlash against cycling.
 
edit: maybe cycling isn't as dangerous on a per-capita basis.

 
If road cycling *demanded* that its participants ride off of cliffs and into rocks or into the path of trains, then you would.  Road cycling -- when an accident happpens - is quite dangerous.  Football -- when done correctly -- is quite dangerous.

 

[joe dokes]

Obviously, those weren't great examples but how about tv ratings as a metric? Or the league's profitability? Both of those are trending upwards, not downwards despite all the negative attention of concussions. Simply put, the overwhelming majority of people just don't care. Well, they may "care" but not enough to change their behavior with respect to the sport's consumption.

 
When the players connected to this era-of-more-concusion-attention start either quitting or getting affected, then there might be some result in measurables like that.  To the newest generation of hooked NFL fans, the guys dying or killing themselves are historical relics who only make fans with gray hair sad. But when more players familiar to today's 21 year old start having issues, it might be different. Today's 10-year old hears about concussions and brain damage every single day.  At 53, i've only had to re-consider my football fandom for the past 5-10 years.  Pretty soon, people will have heard about this bad shit their whole lives. Its bound to make some difference.
 
 
No one calls helmet-wearing hockey players pussies anymore, because we are now at the point where the players and fans all grew up with helmets.  But that took 25 years.

 

[Marciano490]

 
Well, there are also two separate questions, one of which the Smokes and Shakes argument doesn't address.  The first is: will athletes move away from football (and, presumably, into less risky sports such as soccer or baseball) due to the health risks.  The second is: will the American public tolerate (or, at least, continue to throw discretionary time and money at) a sport where allusions to the players as gladiators becomes increasingly less metaphorical.    Either one will kill football, it doesn't have to be either/or.
 
I think it's the latter that sends the Kings and Florios of the world scurrying, because while Borland leaving is bad for football (small f), the story of why he's leaving is bad for the NFL.   It's easier to just say "One guy doesn't a story make!", even though that's really not the story at all.

 
This is true, and the corollary to smokes and shakes is the public shaming that goes on regarding poor health choices beyond any applicable legislation.  The thing about football players is there isn't another sport for many of them to transition to.  Sure, guys like Brady or Kaepernick or Russell could've played baseball.  But, where's Vince Wilfork going to go?  Even most linebackers - if they can't hit a curveball, they're just Pedro Cerrano's and not built right for any of the other 4 majors or even tennis or golf.  It's kind of the opposite of how little guys like Manny and Floyd are stuck with boxing even though they're amazing athletes.

 

[Leather]

Obviously, those weren't great examples but how about tv ratings as a metric? Or the league's profitability? Both of those are trending upwards, not downwards despite all the negative attention of concussions. Simply put, the overwhelming majority of people just don't care. Well, they may "care" but not enough to change their behavior with respect to the sport's consumption.

 
You might be right, who knows.  But the NFL has to be eyeing what happened to the NBA from 1996-2007, when regular season ratings went from an average of 5.0 to 2.0, and finals ratings went from 16 to 6.  Sure, you can blame Jordan retiring, but looking at the timeline it's a bit more complicated than that.
 
It won't be a single issue that takes down the NFL (if ever), it will be a multitude of things, and even a slight decrease in talent and public interest/ad dollars would be problematic if, say, a few years go by without any marquee QB's emerging to build marketing campaigns around, and scoring goes into the shitter for a few years.

 

[SumnerH]

Smoking rates have declined markedly over the past 50 years. Not sure that's a great example.

 
Yep.
 
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/why-women-live-longer/278243/

 

[8slim]

Several NFL players have been paralyzed on live TV... interest in the sport continued to grow unabated.
 
I don't think this situation is anything more than a one-off case.
 
I think it's very safe to assume that the NFL will be America's most popular league, and football it's most popular sport to follow, for at least another couple decades, if not far longer.  It's popularity would have to fall demonstrably to even get near #2.  I do think at some point the league will need to think hard about instituting weight limits to reduce the velocity of hits.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Wesley Walker, 59, who played 13 years with the Jets, said he's had surgeries on his neck, back, shoulders, knees and Achilles that he attributed to his football career. He said that he suffers from spinal stenosis and nerve damage, that he feels pain in his arms and fingers, and that he's had 14 screws and a plate inserted into his neck and 10 screws and two rods inserted into his back.
"I admire [Borland] for what he did. I admire him for being man enough and smart enough to know what's more important in life," Walker told ESPN.com's Ian O'Connor. "If I had to do it over again, and I knew I'd end up in the amount of pain I'm always in, there's no way in hell I'd play football again. With all of my injuries, including my neck, I took a chance of breaking my neck and ending up in a wheelchair. I look back and ask, 'What was I thinking?' "

 
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12501613/chris-borland-retirement-players-thinking-life-football

 

[Hagios]

How feasible would it be to get rid of the helmets? I remember back in a somewhat different era I used to argue with a buddy of mine who favored rugby. He said that rugby players are tougher because they don't wear pads. My response was that he misunderstood. Helmets in the modern game are weapons. But they are weapons that inflict a high price on both the attacker and defender. But it seems like such a radical change that getting rid of helmets would require an existential threat to the NFL.
 
I also wonder if players would get a bit smaller if helmets were banned. It would diminish the returns to the ability to hit hard, which might result in a smaller quicker style of play. That would result in a safety increase in two ways - fewer dangerous collisions and less kinetic energy.

 

[DourDoerr]

 

The stuntman equivalent of a belly flop?  His left hip hits the window frame and there's zero give.  He must have been black and blue all over that side.  At best.