It’s not a gift anymore than it is a gift to work at Harvard, star in a TV show, be a Governor of a state, of start a successful tech company. It’s a job, and other people mythologizing it doesn’t mean someone should be pressured to do something they don’t want to do. Doubly so when this “gift” comes with severe health consequences.
It’s funny because Borland’s decision comes on the heels of many recent articles (and personnel decisions) documenting how the once heralded RB position is basically worthless due to the high injury rate and fairly low performance variance. Smart people are starting to realize that playing in the NFL is just not worth the risks given the uncertain (and diminishing) rewards.
Not to mention three weeks of milking the talk show circuit and a magazine deal. Criminy, if my kid could make a $1M+ his first year out of college before settling into a career less likely to require neurology consults? We’d both be taking a gap year to Europe. Maybe even together.
He also qualified for the minimum pension starting at age 55 - 15300/yr in current dollars. If he lives to 75 that’s 306k in extra lifetime income for doing just one year. Along with the extra health benefits to deal with the football related issues (that may be there from college play) one and done probably maximized his benefit to risk.
If the guy had a series of head injuries it would make sense.
But he hasn’t and he kinda comes across as a pussy and a quitter who let down his team who now wasted a third round pick one week into free agency and now have to scramble to replace him, as well as his teammates.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yeah, you bet your ass you read that right: PUSSY. QUITTER.
I know of Borland only because the 49ers are my team. And honestly, I’d want out of that sinking ship, too, if I was a player.
I’ve followed the 49ers since the DeBerg era and things look really bad right now. We’re stuck with one of the worst owners in the NFL, Jed “Joe Thomas” York.
It’s pretty incredible they chase off a coach that takes them to several conference championship games and the Superbowl. Then they lose key players. Now they’ve wasted a draft pick on Borland that just quits after a season.
The idea that someone could be criticized for taking an objective look at the risks and rewards of an occupation and decide that it’s not for him is a bit mind-boggling. He has other employment opportunities and he values things that football might take away from him. I suspect you’ll see more of this in the future, mainly from young athletes who have other options. There will be plenty of players whose options are more limited that will play no matter what the risks.
I’m a Lion’s fan… want me to start listing first round choices that contributed far less while costing more? I only wish one pretty strong year from a third rounder was the definition of wasting a pick.
He reported that he’s had two diagnosed concussions, and one of those was from playing soccer. He may have had more that went undiagnosed. He may have been more influenced by the results suggesting that multiple small hits, none significant enough to cause a concussion, accumulate to cause long term problems.
I’m really surprised at the number of people, in this thread, other threads on this board, and elsewhere on the Internet, questioning the reasoning (to say nothing of the “manliness”) of Borland.
Depending on the position they play, NFL players can be in the equivalent of multiple 30-mph car crashes every Sunday (and every Saturday during their NCAA careers, and Fridays during their high school careers). Those sorts of hits add up. It’s a much different game than it was for the first Super-Bowl-winning Green Bay Packers team, which someone mentioned in another thread as mostly being hale and healthy today. At around 300 pounds, NFL defensive linemen weigh on average 50 pounds more than they did in the late 1960s, but even a 335-pounder (an outlier in weight) can still run a 40-yard dash in less than five seconds and deliver a helmet hit with more than 8 tons of force.
Yes, Borland is forfeiting a large amount of potential earnings – but what is one’s quality of life worth later in that life? To **aceplace57 **and others, I ask, how much money is it worth to be able to remember close family members’ names when you’re in your 50s?
Good for Borland. There is something to be applauded when someone decides to place his health and wellbeing before money. Quality of Life isn’t directly tied to money - it’s about time folks realize that.
Borland was guaranteed “only” $2.2 million if he continued to play through the 2017 season - about $570k a year. Considering the average NFL career is about six years, the odds are that he would have about two years after his base contract to really cash in.
Meanwhile, he seems to be interested in going into sports management. I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if he makes more money with a career in that line of business than as an NFL player, and with no risk of debilitating injury (brain or otherwise).
The OP does think that “Doctors have become the nanny police for the NFL” so it’s not really surprising that he thinks this kid is ruining his life for not giving up his future brain function for a couple million dollars.
It’s NOT concussions that cause most of the brain damage and associated problems that CTE patients suffer toward the end of their lives.
It’s repeated head impacts. Obviously concussions are the worst of the bunch, but sub-concussive impacts accumulate. Even soccer players who were known for heading the ball a lot are being diagnosed with this sort of brain injury, and so are rugby players.
American football is probably the worst of the lot- you see a LOT more ex-NFL players dealing with the cognitive and emotional problems associated with this sort of brain damage than you do ex-soccer players, but you do see ex-soccer players with the same kinds of problems.
Borland’s just bright enough to realize that some cash and a few years of glory aren’t worth exacerbating what could already be there. I commend him for having the sense to give it up.
Exactly. I think you’ll see people who are smart enough to see sports as just being a part of their life and not the sole reason for their existence. It makes sense to use sports to get through college and set yourself up. Chris Borland isn’t ending his life. Like most people who are 24 years old, he’s just starting out on his life.
There are sadly some other people who are unable to see life beyond sports. Their life ended whenever they left that last team. So at 18 or 22 or maybe 30, their life was over. For those people who can’t find any meaning in the decades ahead after they stop playing, I suppose it makes sense to destroy yourself for just one more season.