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5 Reasons Chris Borland’s Retirement Won’t Hurt the NFL

ByDaniel|

The would-be second year star linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, Chris Borland, has recently retired from the NFL at age 24. He cited long-term health effects as his reasoning for hanging up his cleats after a sensational rookie season.

Some people believe that his retirement is an example of things to come for the NFL and the game of football in general. Many of those people are predicting that the end is near for the NFL as we know it. Dan Diamond at Forbes.com believes that the NFL should be terrified. Others are saying that although the game will remain, the quality may suffer; which seems to be a more level-headed approach.

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But I say fear not NFL fans, despite the growing concerns, the game you love will be just fine.

Sure, it is quite discouraging that Borland has decided to retire despite never having experienced a concussion at the professional level, but there won’t be a massive exodus of stars leaving the game. Will Borland be the last young and successful player to make this decision? No, but most will keep playing. Likewise, the game will still have plenty of prospects coming up through the ranks with NFL hopes for years to come.

This is a big moment in NFL history, but it’s not one we will look back at as the ‘beginning of the end.’ We will look back at 2015 as the year we officially made it socially acceptable to walk away from the game simply from the fear of health problems later in life — which is a great thing. Personal decisions should be respected.

In a recent interview Borland told ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada of Outside the Lines why he wanted to step away from the game.

"“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 know about the dangers?”"

Is Borland overreacting? No, I think he’s an intelligent guy making an educated decision that he’s long thought about. Is the media overreacting to his retirement? For the most part I’d say yes. To presume that his decision, and recent decisions by others, will cause a ripple effect that may ultimately doom the country’s most popular sport is quite presumptuous.

Here are five reasons why the NFL will be A-OK, even decades down the road.

1. The NFL Is No Longer Hiding This Issue

You know what they say about the first step of fixing a problem is — admitting you have one. Well, the NFL has admitted that head injuries are a serious concern and it, for noble reasons or not, has taken steps to minimize injury. It paid out a massive settlement to over 4,500 former NFL players regarding head injuries and rules have been changed to help make the game more safe moving forward.

The league didn’t hesitate to let Borland, NFL fans, and future NFL players know the facts. Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo posted the NFL’s statement on the matter.

2. There Are Plenty of Players that Want to Take Borland’s Roster Spot

There will always be athletes willing to risk injury to play the game that they love. Boxing is still a sport, UFC is taking off, the NHL is financially stable…I could go on. Athletes face potential head trauma in numerous sports yet continue to play because they love the sport. Is it worth it? Well, is eating junk food worth it? No, but Americans still do it because they like to and they have the right to choose what they do with their time and bodies. In that same frame of thinking, athletes are able to choose what they subject their bodies, too. Not to mention, new research is always coming out and the general public is becoming more aware of head injuries–and their long-term effects–and more educated choices can be made. With that information readily available a new era of NFL players will break into the league as educated as possible and the game will only continue to get more safe as time goes on. Even so, there will always be the below mindset by many phenomenal athletes, including Pro Bowl linebacker

Bobby Wagner

.

3. Not Every Player Is In Borland’s Situation

Not every NFL player can fall back on a world-class bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin as Borland can. Imagine an NFL player that played just three years at Tulane or Western Michigan and didn’t earn a degree, but was drafted into the NFL. He most likely wouldn’t make this decision. Not that either player would be, personally, right or wrong, it’s just that not every player has the same support system to fall back on like Borland has. This is, in a way, a social issue, that can somewhat be summed up by former NFL offensive lineman

Damien Woody

. Here is his point on the issue.

4. The Culture of Football is Changing at the Lowest Levels

As a population we are becoming more aware of the dangers of concussions. Thus, youth football coaches must now be certified “Heads Up Football” coaches, which will, presumably, result in fewer traumatic head injuries over time. This new campaign has its critics, but there are already some positive studies coming out about its efforts.

Gary Mihoces of USAToday wrote up a piece about some independent studies that were conducted to see if “Heads Up Football” really helped reduce head injuries in youth football. The studies found that there were 34 percent less head injuries at “Heads Up Football” practices and 29 percent less head injuries involving “Heads Up Football” trained teams in games. That is actually quite encouraging for the future of the nation’s favorite sport. Now if you project this initial data over a few decades where equipment, strategies, and information continues to evolve — the game will be just fine.

5. Borland Doesn’t Represent the Entire NFL

I think too many people are projecting this story too far as they attempt to apply it to every NFL player. Lets look at the facts, Borland was an undersized linebacker in the NFL and he had shoulder injuries that he was dealing with since college as well. He had to play the game in a reckless way to be the effective player that he wanted to be (and was). However, the stress he had to put on his body was too much for him as he thought about the next ten years of his life and how he’d be forever impacted.

Not every NFL player is undersized and fighting chronic shoulder problems. Not every NFL player has to sell out their body on every play to make an impact. Borland, although an amazing player and wonderful human being, doesn’t represent the entirety of the NFL population. People, especially those foreseeing the NFL’s demise, need to realize this fact.

The San Francisco 49ers released an official statement on Borland’s retirement per the team website.

"“While unexpected, we certainly respect Chris’ decision,” said 49ers general manager Trent Baalke. “From speaking with Chris, it was evident that he had put a great deal of thought into this decision. He was a consummate professional from day one and a very well respected member of our team and community. Chris is a determined young man that overcame long odds in his journey to the NFL and we are confident he will use the same approach to become very successful in his future endeavors. We will always consider him a 49er and wish him all the best.”"

This news was shocking and it’s a definite blow to the San Francisco 49ers, but I’m not buying that it’s a sign of negative things to come for the NFL as a whole. If his decision leads to more young men making more educated decisions then I’m all for that. If some men don’t want to put their bodies in harm’s way any longer that’s great — they now have Borland’s example to follow. However, for the majority of football players, this game is too special to give up.

Football was a violent sport, is a violent sport, and always will be a violent sport, but it is getting safer. Thankfully we are in a time where personal, educated decisions can be made by would-be NFL players on whether or not the risk is worth it to them, because “is it worth it” is what it’s all about. To many, unlike Borland, that question will forever be a resounding yes.

Next: Does Early Retirement Hurt Football?

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