(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
By: Marques Eversoll
According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, former University of Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland is retiring from the NFL after just one season with the San Francisco 49ers. Borland is 24 years old.
The report says Borland has been diagnosed with just two concussions—the first playing soccer in eighth grade, and the second playing football as a sophomore in high school. Borland is choosing to walk away from the game over concerns about the effects of what continuing his football career might do to his long-term health. It’s not as if a long history of head trauma forced his retirement.
This is crushing news for the San Francisco 49ers, who just saw veteran standout and fellow linebacker Patrick Willis retire at 30 years old. It’s been a nightmare offseason for the 49ers. For Borland, it may be sad that a promising career was cut so short, but he should be applauded for making the rare decision of walking away from a game that made him a household name in favor of living what he hopes is a longer and healthier life.
Perhaps the biggest impact will fall on the game itself. For a league looking to expand to 18 games, having already had numerous lawsuits from former players regarding long-term health effects, the news of a 24-year-old relatively healthy player walking away on his own terms is astronomical. This isn’t going away any time soon.
Gone are the days of shrugging off a big collision, and pretending like a concussion never happened. The NFL has stepped up in terms of its concussion protocol and made rule changes outlawing hits on defenseless receivers. Fans don’t like that, but they also don’t like seeing really good football players walk away from the game so young.
Borland’s early retirement may not lead to more retirements, but it may very well have in impact on players trying to mask injuries in order to stay on the field. And it may impact those fans that are so quick to shake their head after a flag is thrown and say, “The game just ain’t like it used to be.”
Last week, 27-year-old Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds retired. Willis was 30 when he opted to hang it up. Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew retired earlier this month at age 30. Borland is the latest in a long line of NFL players to walk away from the game early this offseason, but the impact of his unexpected retirement will perhaps have the greatest impact on the sport itself.
Really, shocking news. Nothing but the best to Chris Borland moving forward.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
