Citing concerns over repetitive head trauma, rookie LB Chris Borland retires

[Playoffs]

Rookie LB Chris Borland retires due to concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the NFL's top rookies last season, told "Outside the Lines" on Monday that he is retiring because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma.

Borland, 24, said he notified the 49ers on Friday. He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, and studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease.

"I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," Borland told "Outside the Lines." "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."
...
"I feel largely the same, as sharp as I've ever been, for me it's wanting to be proactive," said Borland. "I'm concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it's too late. ... There are a lot of unknowns. I can't claim that X will happen. I just want to live a long healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise."
...
Borland said there was no chance he would change his mind. The third-round draft pick who starred at the University of Wisconsin said he has had just two diagnosed concussions: one while playing soccer in the eighth grade, the other playing football as a sophomore in high school.
...
His success last season did not make his decision more difficult, Borland said: "I've thought about what I could accomplish in football, but for me personally, when you read about Mike Webster and Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, you read all these stories and to be the type of player I want to be in football, I think I'd have to take on some risks that as a person I don't want to take on." Borland was referring to former NFL greats who were diagnosed with a devastating brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, after their deaths. Duerson and Easterling committed suicide.

Borland said he began to have misgivings during training camp. He said he sustained what he believed to be a concussion stuffing a running play but played through it, in part because he was trying to make the team. "I just thought to myself, 'What am I doing? Is this how I'm going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I've learned and knew about the dangers?'"

He said the issue "gathered steam" as the season progressed. Before the fourth game of the pre-season, at Houston, he wrote a letter to his parents, informing them that he thought that his career in the NFL would be brief because of his concerns about the potential long-term effects of the head injuries.

After the season, Borland said, he consulted with prominent concussion researchers and former players to affirm his decision. He also scheduled baseline tests to monitor his neurological well being going forward "and contribute to the greater research." After thinking through the potential repercussions, Borland said the decision was ultimately "simple."
...

Beginning of a trend...?

 

[Thorn]

There will always be people who will risk their future for something big right now.

 

[toronto]

There will always be people who will risk their future for something big right now.

True but a lot more players have seen what happened to Junior Seau etc and have decided that fate is not for them. The league has a real problem on their hands, because the new generation of players are a hell of a lot less gullible than the previous generations.

 

[TheMatrix31]

Good for him. Instead of fighting to change the game, he's retiring. Don't like the risks associated with football? Don't play football, then.

 

[Mollywhopper]

Good for him. Instead of fighting to change the game, he's retiring. Don't like the risks associated with football? Don't play football, then.

Fighting to change the game?

 

[mussop]

Has any team ever had this bad of an offseason?????

God I would rather be a Jacksonville fan than a 49er fan right now.

 

[Texecutioner]

Good for him. Instead of fighting to change the game, he's retiring. Don't like the risks associated with football? Don't play football, then.

I agree. There has been a ton of new information on brain trauma over the last few years, and I'd like to see this trend continue from players that have had concussions. I don't want to see guys retire early, but it is a much smarter thing to do for their health as concussions have shown to cause a lot of health problems later on in life. I worry about Welker a lot, and wish that he would retire.

 

[JB]

I agree. There has been a ton of new information on brain trauma over the last few years, and I'd like to see this trend continue from players that have had concussions. I don't want to see guys retire early, but it is a much smarter thing to do for their health as concussions have shown to cause a lot of health problems later on in life. I worry about Welker a lot, and wish that he would retire.

Yeah Welker needs to retire. Needs to be like a 3 concussions and you're out

 

[Texecutioner]

Yeah Welker needs to retire. Needs to be like a 3 concussions and you're out

Welker is seriously playing russian roulette with his life after football at this point.


You remember when Chris Henry died from the Bengals? They looked at his brain in the autopsy, and found out that he had all types of brain damage and had the brain of a really old person or something really horrific like that. He just didn't feel it at that point they had been saying. A lot of football players very likely have major brain damage, but they just don't feel the effects yet. When you see what happened with Seau, it is pretty scary. I read that Jim Mcmahon is starting to have a lot of problems now where he has no idea why he is in certain rooms and can't remember random things.

 

[houstonspartan]

Wow, I told someone recently, very casually, that I thought we were at the very early stages of the end of the NFL. Granted, with all the money still being made, it'll be 20 years or so before the league is completely done; but, I do believe we're starting the long, slow decline of football.

 

[Texecutioner]

Wow, I told someone recently, very casually, that I thought we were at the very early stages of the end of the NFL. Granted, with all the money still being made, it'll be 20 years or so before the league is completely done; but, I do believe we're starting the long, slow decline of football.

I don't know if I'd go that far, but we will slowly see a lot more guys retiring most likely. I listened to a long podcast with one of the best doctors in the country who is helping out PSD patients from the military, and the research he has done is pretty alarming. Most people have no idea how bad head trauma really is, or that you could have head trauma from an accident when you were a teenager that could come back and draw symptoms 30 years later.

All the reports about Seau suggested that he was a perfectly normal father and family man after he retired, and then his mental state quickly declined where he went into a very strange depression that ultimately caused him to kill himself. That was so sad reading about his decline. Seau was such a class act.

 

[Marshall]

has any team ever had this bad of an offseason?????

God i would rather be a jacksonville fan than a 49er fan right now.

mutiny! "The Bounty"?

 

[Marshall]

Welker is seriously playing russian roulette with his life after football at this point.


You remember when Chris Henry died from the Bengals? They looked at his brain in the autopsy, and found out that he had all types of brain damage and had the brain of a really old person or something really horrific like that. He just didn't feel it at that point they had been saying. A lot of football players very likely have major brain damage, but they just don't feel the effects yet. When you see what happened with Seau, it is pretty scary. I read that Jim Mcmahon is starting to have a lot of problems now where he has no idea why he is in certain rooms and can't remember random things.

Uh Yeah! Me too and I stopped playing in 7th grade. Couldn't have anything to do with GETTING OLD!

 

[IDEXAN]

Wow, I told someone recently, very casually, that I thought we were at the very early stages of the end of the NFL. Granted, with all the money still being made, it'll be 20 years or so before the league is completely done; but, I do believe we're starting the long, slow decline of football.

Did your crystal ball tell you about the end of just the NFL, or about the end of all organized football in the US starting with scholastic ball, thru college, and on into the pros ?

 

[Blake]

You dont see this very often.

I know there were several people mocking him to us. I think he was in Mark Vandermeers mock as well. Glad we didnt get him.

 

[Marshall]

Did your crystal ball tell you about the end of just the NFL, or about the end of all organized football in the US starting with scholastic ball, thru college, and on into the pros ?

ROBOT FOOTBALL! The solution for everything. And to think I saw the "prophecy" on the Jetsons 40 years ago...

 

[Texecutioner]

Uh Yeah! Me too and I stopped playing in 7th grade. Couldn't have anything to do with GETTING OLD!

Do you ever research a subject or read an article or anything before spewing out random nonsense that is so far from reality? Sometimes I think that you go out of your way to dispute things in a crazy fashion just for responses.

 

[toronto]

Do you ever research a subject or read an article or anything before spewing out random nonsense that is so far from reality? Sometimes I think that you go out of your way to dispute things in a crazy fashion just for responses.

Back on subject, I really think the distrust players have for the NFL, combined with Belcher, Seau, Duerson and all, has changed the game. Youth football numbers are down, and eventually, the trickle down effect will hit the NFL. May take 10-15 years, but it will happen. Too many parents simply won't let their kids near tackle football today, and that will only trend higher as we go along.

 

[The1ApplePie]

Welker is seriously playing russian roulette with his life after football at this point.


You remember when Chris Henry died from the Bengals? They looked at his brain in the autopsy, and found out that he had all types of brain damage and had the brain of a really old person or something really horrific like that. He just didn't feel it at that point they had been saying. A lot of football players very likely have major brain damage, but they just don't feel the effects yet. When you see what happened with Seau, it is pretty scary. I read that Jim Mcmahon is starting to have a lot of problems now where he has no idea why he is in certain rooms and can't remember random things.

Though not a football player, Chris Benoit is the most famous case, and generally the one that brought all this to light, though the murder-suicide was probably the result of other underlying psychological issues.

I've heard that Troy Aikman is in bad shape due to all of his concussions, a lot of other players as well. Guys like Welker are taking stupid risks at this point.

 

[pirbroke]

Good thing he didn't join the military, it's a little harder to leave after one year, sheeeesh, wimp. And yes, I know my statement is not politically correct, and I don't care. :-)

 

[Mr teX]

Eh, i think all this is overblown. Guys are much more educated than in years past about the perils of the sport & you'll see this happen more often because of it, but not much more. Never underestimate what people will do for money. For some people, the risk to thier health in the future might be worth setting up your family for generations to come. This is why the aspirations of playing pro sports has been so appealing to many in disadvantaged areas...It's just about the only option they have & you won't see them forego that option based off a risk.

Besides Cali seems to be the place where many of these guys are choosing to retire early. Chris Borland is just the latest..Patrick Willis earlier this offseason..Glen Coffee a few years before that...That Cali lifestyle must be really relaxing.

 

[toronto]

Eh, i think all this is overblown. Guys are much more educated than in years past about the perils of the sport & you'll see this happen more often because of it, but not much more. Never underestimate what people will do for money. For some people, the risk to thier health in the future might be worth setting up your family for generations to come. This is why the aspirations of playing pro sports has been so appealing to many in disadvantaged areas...It's just about the only option they have & you won't see them forego that option based off a risk.

Besides Cali seems to be the place where many of these guys are choosing to retire early. Chris Borland is just the latest..Patrick Willis earlier this offseason..Glen Coffee a few years before that...That Cali lifestyle must be really relaxing.

Borland went to school in the Midwest and grew up in Ohio. I'd say his decision has a lot more to do with his own upbringing and IQ than one year as a 49er.

Edit - good info here

.@markfwespn, who broke the story, says Borland was influenced by tragic case of Mike Webster, who also went to Wisconsin.

 

[toronto]

This has a good look at 14 ex players, where Deadspin asks them would they do it again if they knew what they now know

http://deadspin.com/we-asked-14-ret...source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[Double Barrel]

Wow, I told someone recently, very casually, that I thought we were at the very early stages of the end of the NFL. Granted, with all the money still being made, it'll be 20 years or so before the league is completely done; but, I do believe we're starting the long, slow decline of football.

I think the trend will continue and pro players will have shorter careers as a result, most likely by choice.

There is too much money in it right now for it to go away anytime soon, but I do think we will see it decline over the next few decades.

The quality of the product will be reduced and the prices to customers will continue to rise, and that will contribute to it, as well.

We are seeing reduced quality right now at the QB position out of college. Less and less players are learning the pro offense and how to read defenses. The trend in little league through college is one read QBs, but that's not going to be a long term trend in the NFL. Defenses are too fast for that kind of one-dimensional offense, so we will just see fewer good-to-great QBs over time.

Expand that mentality to all positions as less and less kids will learn how to play the sport due to concerns of head injuries and potential lifelong implications. We will start to see a greater percentage of great athletes choose other pro sports options that are not so concerned about CTE and early dementia.

Predicting trends is not about crystal ball fortune telling. It is about applying simple logic to current trends and concerns and projecting the effects over a long term period of time. Football fans try to dismiss it right now, but this is not about the present where the NFL is king of entertainment. We are talking 2025, 2035, 2045, and beyond.

And the NFL is concerned about long term, as well, so this is not chicken little alarmists or crying wolf. When the league itself is trying to figure it out and keep itself viable for the future, it should tell you something if you bother to take the blinders off and fingers out of the ears.

 

[bah007]

I think another thing to consider is that there is more money for the players now than there ever has been.

I think player careers will grow shorter out of choice because they can earn a healthy bit of money in a shorter period of time, setting their families up for the future.

This isn't specific to Borland obviously, since he only played on year. Borland's circumstance seems a little specific to the University of Wisconsin. They just recently had two players announce their retirement at the school's pro day. Neither had even been drafted yet but both were considered to be late round picks. They both gave the same reasons that Borland did for their decision.

 

[IDEXAN]

So this one guy is what one half of one thousand of a percent of the NFL population, so big deal. This guy just got scared and decided to fold it up becasue he's also got another way to pay the bills. So I'm now bracing myself to hear about this ad nauseam from the media because they probably think they just scored some kind of big victory ?

 

[toronto]

http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/foo...reat-wesley-walker-pain-day-article-1.2152369

Wesley Walker agrees and wishes he made same decision Borland did.

 

[toronto]

So this one guy is what one half of one thousand of a percent of the NFL population, so big deal. This guy just got scared and decided to fold it up becasue he's also got another way to pay the bills. So I'm now bracing myself to hear about this ad nauseam from the media because they probably think they just scored some kind of big victory ?

There isn't a victory here. Just think you are going to see a decline from youth football forward. Game is not going to grow and the defections and retirements will add up. Especially as long as the NFLPA plays ball with the league on non guaranteed contracts. Borland, Worilds, Locker and Willis. Hardly a one day phenomenon.

 

[Double Barrel]

There isn't a victory here. Just think you are going to see a decline from youth football forward. Game is not going to grow and the defections and retirements will add up. Especially as long as the NFLPA plays ball with the league on non guaranteed contracts. Borland, Worilds, Locker and Willis. Hardly a one day phenomenon.

It is interesting to note that while participation in youth football is slowly declining, numbers for high school football are going up.

I think there is a growing number of parents that are concerned about the lack of coaching experience, lack of training, and just bad coaching at the youth league level. Just watch Friday Night Tykes and see some truly bad coaching and terrible instruction from volunteer dad coaches. Bad coaching without checks and balances is why I did not let my youngest son play in private leagues.

However, he did starting playing in 7th grade, which is the earliest allowed in our school district. The comparisons of career school coaches is in stark contrast to the volunteers in private leagues. Of course the sport is still brutal and violent, but there is clearly a big difference in policies on playing injured players, potential concussion protocols, the skills and values they are teaching, and the overall attitude toward players.

I think many of the dad coaches are simply unprepared, inexperienced, and often teach from a perspective that they learned, which can be antiquated and ignorant as we learn more and more about sports medicine. They are not required to be trained and there is often little to no accountability when they are terrible and teach bad techniques and bad sportsmanship.

 

[The1ApplePie]

There isn't a victory here. Just think you are going to see a decline from youth football forward. Game is not going to grow and the defections and retirements will add up. Especially as long as the NFLPA plays ball with the league on non guaranteed contracts. Borland, Worilds, Locker and Willis. Hardly a one day phenomenon.

The real danger for football is if the elite athletes start going to other sports. Happened to boxing, certainly happened to baseball. If elite athletes choose other sports, then football will enter a decline.

Most friends my age with kids have said they won't let their sons play football. One said he would let his boys play, but would pull them out quickly if they weren't any good at it. He moved to Nashville, so he might change his mind. Part of his reasoning was because of all the self-interested coaches in Texas high school football. Plenty would gladly run a kid or team into the ground if it thought it would get them closer to a college job. Doubt it is different in Tennessee, but the stakes are probably lower.

 

[infantrycak]

It is interesting to note that while participation in youth football is slowly declining, numbers for high school football are going up.

I think there is a growing number of parents that are concerned about the lack of coaching experience, lack of training, and just bad coaching at the youth league level. Just watch Friday Night Tykes and see some truly bad coaching and terrible instruction from volunteer dad coaches. Bad coaching without checks and balances is why I did not let my youngest son play in private leagues.

However, he did starting playing in 7th grade, which is the earliest allowed in our school district. The comparisons of career school coaches is in stark contrast to the volunteers in private leagues. Of course the sport is still brutal and violent, but there is clearly a big difference in policies on playing injured players, potential concussion protocols, the skills and values they are teaching, and the overall attitude toward players.

I think many of the dad coaches are simply unprepared, inexperienced, and often teach from a perspective that they learned, which can be antiquated and ignorant as we learn more and more about sports medicine. They are not required to be trained and there is often little to no accountability when they are terrible and teach bad techniques and bad sportsmanship.

Very good points about the school teams v. outside. My observation of the youth leagues has been they've moved to one of two extremes, neither fun/desirable - either incompetent learn nothing no scoring participation crud or over the top Nazi parents with delusions if they get little Johnny enough private tutoring he'll be the next A-Rod, Manziel (what he was supposed to be) or Beckham. Not many good in between learn the fundamentals and have fun leagues.

 

[welsh texan]

I've seen 21 days rest after concussion reported as being an important milestone recently, surely the NFL need to be making steps towards doing this? Just an automatic month long bad if there's even a hint of concussion. 2 in a season and your done for the year, get a third and your career is over.

Laurel u that'd minimise the level of risk?

 

[b0ng]

I've seen 21 days rest after concussion reported as being an important milestone recently, surely the NFL need to be making steps towards doing this? Just an automatic month long bad if there's even a hint of concussion. 2 in a season and your done for the year, get a third and your career is over.

Laurel u that'd minimise the level of risk?

Not really, unfortunately. The real problem isn't the big single concussion a player might suffer, but the myriad of blows that don't cause concussions that pretty much happen every play. Think of it like tapping your thumb against an apple, only the apple is your brain.

Especially with linemen who basically crack skulls with their counterparts every snap.

 

[Playoffs]

Andrew Brandt ‏@adbrandt

Chris Borland tells Face the Nation he'll voluntarily return 3/4 of signing bonus to @49ers, who now avoid decision on suing to recover.

 

[infantrycak]

I've heard that Troy Aikman is in bad shape due to all of his concussions

Both the book League of Denial and the PBS documentary that draws from it devote a great deal of attention to Troy Aikman, who played in a Super Bowl after suffering a serious concussion in the NFC Championship Game, and who retired in part because of concerns about concussions. But 15 years after his playing career ended, Aikman says he’s doing fine.

Aikman told Richard Deitsch of TheMMQB.com that he had a thorough neurological exam that gave him a clean bill of health. Aikman also said he has always felt that he remains mentally sharp and has never had any issues such as memory loss that would affect his ability to work as a broadcaster.

“It certainly gave me some peace of mind,” Aikman said. “But the reason I have never been concerned is that the job that I have with Fox is a mental exercise—recalling numbers and names and things of that nature. I am able to do that pretty readily. I do think broadcasting with Fox keeps my mind active, and I think it helps.”

Aikman says he would neither encourage a child to play football nor discourage a child from playing football, as he views it as an individual decision that may be right for some and wrong for others. But he’s clear that from his perspective, he’s benefited from playing the game.

Link

 

[Double Barrel]

Good to hear about Aikman. He has been as good of a broadcaster as he was a QB, and I hated to hear that he was concerned about long-term effects of CTE.

And I agree completely about neither encouraging nor discouraging a kid from playing football. We let our boys decide, with the caveat that their season is over for any head injuries.

 

[Playoffs]

Another 49ers stunner: Anthony Davis retiring

SANTA CLARA -- In another stunning offseason development for the 49ers, offensive tackle Anthony Davis has announced he will retire. Davis, 25, was a first-round pick (No. 11 overall) by the team out of Rutgers in 2010. He started all 71 games in which he appeared over the past five seasons.

"I'm simply doing what's best for my body as well as my mental health at this time in my life," Davis told the NFL Network's Ian Rappaport.

Davis intimated that his retirement might be temporary in a Tweet: "I'll be back in a year or so.. I'll be 26 or 27 years old. I'm taking this time to allow my Brain and Body time to heal and recoup."

Davis' retirement comes in the wake of linebacker Chris Borland calling it quits in April. A similar decision by veteran Patrick Willis was less stunning, but left the 49ers with a big hole at the inside linebacker position. Defensive line veteran Justin Smith took time with his decision, but also ultimately opted to retire.​

 

[Playoffs]

The Conversation the NFL Does Not Want to Have -- MMQB

Is the spate of surprising retirements by 49ers players this offseason an outlier or the start of a trend? The league hopes it's the former because it's unprepared to deal with the latter. Plus, thoughts on the NFL's antiquated stance on gambling

By Andrew Brandt

Someday there will probably be an interesting documentary made about all the 49ers players who retired this offseason. While unexpected departures have happened elsewhere—Jake Locker from the Titans and Jason Worilds from the Steelers—the number of eyebrow-raising retirements in San Francisco seems curious.

Perhaps it’s simply coincidence that Chris Borland, Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and Anthony Davis decided to walk away in quick succession, each citing individual circumstances. (It was reported on Tuesday that Eric Reid also has considered retiring if concussions become a further problem.) As much as some would like to connect the dots to possible dysfunction within the organization following the departure of Jim Harbaugh and the ascension of Jim Tomsula to head coach, we’ll likely have to wait a long time for that documentary to possibly reveal something more systemic at the root of these decisions.

The NFL must be hoping there is something unique going on with the 49ers. The retirement of younger players in their primes cannot yet be characterized as a trend, but it certainly can be seen as a concern from the league’s perspective. Let’s examine.

The older guys

The retirements of Justin Smith, 35, and Patrick Willis, 30, don’t set off the alarms that the departure of the younger players do. These two played “short area” positions—defensive end and linebacker—for 14 and eight seasons, respectively. They have been playing with house money relative to NFL career longevity, and now they are deciding to take their chips and get up from the table.

But it’s still surprising to see Willis and Smith walking away. The vast majority of NFL players—no matter what age—don’t retire voluntarily; they are “retired” by teams that no longer need their services. Often when we see players retire a month or two into free agency, it’s because no team is willing to “un-retire” them so they can continue playing. Several teams, including the 49ers, would be happy to employ Willis and Smith. But rather than milking every last drop of football from their bodies (and minds), these two are moving on and seem content.

The younger guys

More intriguing are the retirements of Anthony Davis, 25, and Chris Borland, 24. In the business of football, these are the ages when players traditionally reach their physical and financial primes, moving toward the highest leverage point of their careers. And not only are they foregoing future riches, they acknowledge the 49ers’ contractual right to prorated bonuses and have agreed to forfeit those amounts. This truly shows the depth of their commitment to walk away from football (while negating the inevitable skeptics as to their reasoning).

Borland started doing significant research into brain trauma after suffering a “ding” in training camp, which, of course, was a head injury that persisted and sparked his inquiry. After thoughtful and informed study, he walked away from the NFL. Now Davis has made a similar decision, taking what he calls “a year or two away to allow his brain and body to heal.” While time will tell if Davis actually returns to play—his decision seems to be universally termed a retirement—his reasoning sounds similar to that of Borland’s. He has forecast the cumulative impact of football regarding his future health and, at least for the time being, has opted to stop playing.

In my dealings with players as a former agent, a former team executive and now a media analyst, I have always stressed two tenets to keep in mind: 1) to focus not on how much money you make, but rather how much money you keep; and 2) to treat the NFL not as a career but as a head start to a career. I have always told players that their peers in their college graduating class will be years ahead of them in their career paths when they leave football and enter “civilian life”; they need to use the contacts and recognition that they gain from the NFL to their post-NFL advantage. Davis and Borland have realized, at very young ages, that there is more to life than football.

Bigger issue

The idea of “preemptive retirement” was unheard a couple of months ago. Now Borland and Davis—along with Locker—have stop playing at age 25 or younger. Going forward, with only more knowledge and more resources becoming available about football’s long-term impact on players’ health, it’s hard to believe there won’t be more of these preemptive (and largely asymptomatic) retirements. Again, I am not suggesting a mass exodus from the NFL, but there may be a handful of these every year. And that has to be a concern for the league.

The NFL has settled a massive concussion litigation involving thousands of retired players (it has received final approval, although there are lingering appeals). The settlement, which should cost each owner the relatively minimal amount of approximately $25 million (with some covered by insurance), avoided billions of dollars of exposure, contains no admission of liability, and allows the NFL to claim that all former players are now being taken care of to some degree. However, when players in the prime of their careers decide the risk is not worth the reward, that is an entirely different conversation, one the NFL does not want to have.

Business is booming in the NFL. The most recent franchise sale, the Buffalo Bills, went for a staggering $1.4 billion; broadcast contracts are at record levels; and a team-friendly CBA is in place for five more years. The league has continued to prosper through scandals involving locker room bullying, domestic violence, crises in credibility, perceived hubris, and protracted investigations of the current Super Bowl champion (Spygate and Deflategate). As unique as some of those problems have been, the NFL can handle those threats; they are part of doing business.

Preemptive and asymptomatic retirements of young and ascending players, however, pose an unanticipated threat to the NFL’s dominance.

This is something to watch. Stay tuned.​

 

[Playoffs]

For Chris Borland, leaving NFL is not about the money

Madison — Almost four months removed from announcing he was retiring from football because of concerns about brain injury — at age 24 and after just one season in the National Football League — former Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland hears one question over and over:

How can you walk away from all that money?

"That has been the biggest surprise for me," Borland said last week at the 2015 Legends of Wisconsin Golf Classic. "People can't get over the money.

"That's all they think about. But your health is a little more important."

Borland, an All-American and the Big Ten defensive player of the year as a fifth-year senior in 2013, appeared at ease talking about his decision to quit football, a choice he made public in March.

Borland subsequently announced he would return three-quarters of his signing bonus, a total of $463,077.

"I think people were surprised," said Borland, who signed for $2.3 million over four years. "But I signed a contract. I was living by the contract."

UW coach Paul Chryst, who was the Badgers' offensive coordinator for Borland's first three years in the program, wasn't surprised.

"Chris always has been a really fascinating guy to me and a guy with a lot of depth, perspective," Chryst said. "Everyone wants to put him in one little box and say this is what happened.

"And that is the beautiful thing about Chris.... There's a lot of layers to him.

"I like that. You can't figure him out."

Borland suffered a concussion during his first training camp with the San Francisco 49ers but didn't tell team officials. Concussions weren't an issue at UW, but he did battle through shoulder and hamstring injuries.

Why did he ultimately decide to walk away from football?

"Just a combination of my own experience, along with a lot of data that is out there regarding long-term health effects of head injuries," he said. "And I play a position and a style of play where I was susceptible to the worst of it.

"I played a physical brand of football and played through some things where it makes sense for me."

Borland's decision made sense to former UW teammate Scott Tolzien.

"If you know Chris well enough, you know that nothing is an impulsive decision," Tolzien said. "He is an intelligent guy to begin with. But he has also spent a ton of time researching it and talking to professionals in that field."

Another question Borland hears: So now that you've quit football, what do you plan to do?

An outstanding pass-rusher at UW, Borland is in no rush to make a decision.

"I've got a few pretty decent options," he said. "I'm not going to hurry up and start a career. I'm going to take my time."

Next on his agenda is a trip to Europe.

"He seems like he is doing really well and that is all you want," Chryst said. "In the end, are they doing well?"​

 

[Playoffs]

Why former 49er Chris Borland is the most dangerous man in football

ONE DAY IN April, the NFL asked Chris Borland to take a random drug test. The timing of this request was, in a word, bizarre, since Borland, a San Francisco 49ers linebacker, had retired a month earlier after a remarkable rookie season. He said he feared getting brain damage if he continued to play.

Borland had been amazed at the reaction to his decision, the implications of which many saw as a direct threat to the NFL. And now here was an email demanding that he pee in a cup before a league proctor within 24 hours or fail the test. "I figured if I said no, people would think I was on drugs," he said recently. That, he believed, "would ruin my life." As he thought about how to respond, Borland began to wonder how random this drug test really was.

What did the NFL still want with him? Nobody could have held out much hope that he'd change his mind. On Friday, March 13, when Borland retired via email, he attached a suggested press release, then reaffirmed his intentions in conversations with 49ers officials. Instead of announcing Borland's retirement, the team sent him a bill -- an unsubtle reminder that he'd have to return most of his $617,436 signing bonus if he followed through. That Monday, Borland, knowing he was forgoing at least $2.35 million, not to mention a promising career, made the announcement himself to Outside the Lines. He has since elaborated on the decision to everyone from Face the Nation to Charlie Rose to undergraduates at Wisconsin, where he was an All-American.

Borland has consistently described his retirement as a pre-emptive strike to (hopefully) preserve his mental health. "If there were no possibility of brain damage, I'd still be playing," he says. But buried deeper in his message are ideas perhaps even more threatening to the NFL and our embattled national sport. It's not just that Borland won't play football anymore. He's reluctant to even watch it, he now says, so disturbed is he by its inherent violence, the extreme measures that are required to stay on the field at the highest levels and the physical destruction 
he has witnessed to people he loves and admires -- especially to their brains.

Borland estimates he's had about 30 concussions throughout his football career.​

Borland has complicated, even tortured, feelings about football that grow deeper the more removed he is from the game. He still sees it as an exhilarating sport that cultivates discipline and teamwork and brings communities and families together. "I don't dislike football," he insists. "I love football." At the same time, he has come to view it as a dehumanizing spectacle that debases both the people who play it and the people who watch it.

"Dehumanizing sounds so extreme, but when you're fighting for a football at the bottom of the pile, it is kind of dehumanizing," he said during a series of conversations over the spring and summer. "It's like a spectacle of violence, for entertainment, and you're the actors in it. You're complicit in that: You put on the uniform. And it's a trivial thing at its core. It's make-believe, really. That's the truth about it."

How one person can reconcile such opposing views of football -- as both cherished American tradition and trivial activity so violent that it strips away our humanity -- is hard to see. Borland, 24, 
is still working it out. He wants to be respectful to friends who are still playing and former teammates and coaches, but he knows that, in many ways, he is the embodiment of the growing conflict over football, a role that he is improvising, sometimes painfully, as he goes along.

More than anything, Borland says he doesn't want to tell anyone what to do. This is the central conflict of his post-football life. He rejected the sport, a shocking public act that still reverberates, in tremors, from the NFL to its vast pipeline of youth leagues. Yet he's wary of becoming a symbol for all the people who want to end -- or save -- football.

We trailed Borland for five months as he embarked on a journey that drove him deeper into the NFL's concussion crisis and forced him to confront the sport in ways he avoided while playing. One day in June, he returned to...​