Chris Borland's decision to abruptly retire from the NFL last year at the age of 24 due to long-term health concerns sent waves through the football world. Borland, after all, was coming off an impressive rookie season in which he made 107 tackles and had two interceptions. He was signed for another three years and due to make nearly $2 million. And yet Borland decided playing football wasn't "worth the risk."
Chris Borland thinks more NFL players are going to start retiring early
The former 49ers linebacker who walked away from football at the age of 24 expects others to follow in his footsteps.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Now, Borland says that he thinks and hopes many other NFL players follow in his footsteps.
“Well, I think an old adage is that you play till the wheels fall off,” Borland said last week, via the Detroit Free Press. “You play till you can’t anymore. You have to be carried off the field. I think that’ll change.”
Borland made the comments while taking part in a panel discussion following a screening of the documentary "Requiem For A Running Back," which tells the story of former Green Bay Packers running back Lewis Carpenter, who was diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after his death. Borland said he expects players to start to start looking at their long-term health when making career decisions.
Calvin Johnson, Marshawn Lynch, Jerod Mayo and Husain Abdullah all retired this offseason despite being 30 or younger.
“I think historically, Jim Brown and Barry Sanders are viewed as early retirements,” Borland said. “I think whenever a guy decides to walk away is when he and his family decides he’s not going to play a game anymore. And even if you play for 20 years and are a Hall-of-Famer, you still have a life to live after football. So I think that’s always been a cliché, but that’s starting to get real, tangible results.”
Borland said he's scheduled to start an internship with the Carter Center in Atlanta's mental health program soon and after that go back to school. He cited the death of former Giants linebacker Tyler Sash, who died last September at the age of 27 of an accidental drug overdose and was later found to have CTE, as the event which persuaded him to cease hiding from the public and begin fighting for mental health awareness.
He also reiterated that while he respects certain attributes of football, he doesn’t plan on allowing his kid to play.
“It could be the greatest game in the world, but simultaneously maybe the worst,” Borland said during the panel discussion. “And the crux of the issue for me, I think, is that what makes it so great is also what makes it detrimental and scary and everything, the violence. So I don’t regret my decision. Miss the game, but that time was going to come at a certain point anyway, so moved on with my life.”
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