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Chris Borland retires

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dw49 Active Roster

dw49

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Crazy how a team can go from having without a doubt the best roster in football to what looks like an also ran in just a couple of years. They had great young defensive and offensive personnel , good young coach and about half of the 2013 draft locked up. 

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Nobody Walk On

Nobody

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Wow. They go from having one of the best ILB corps. to having ILB as a huge need now. This is brutal news for the 49ers.

They went from the best ILB corps to not having a single healthy decent player at the position.
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southwest1 Walk On

southwest1

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This is a sad day for any & all Wisconsin Badgers Alumni man. He was an incredible LB. Man, SW1 is really depressed now. WI doesn't have that many college to NFL stars at the next level: JJ Watt, Russell Wilson, Owen Daniels just off the top of my head. Sorry Chris. I understand your fear over concussions & brain trauma. I enjoyed watching you succeed in San Francisco Chris. Good luck as you plan the next phase of your life. 

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Gavin Walk On

Gavin

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I'm not convinced a team under York's control will get better.

Well they did get better after he hired Harbaugh....Though I think they are going through a case where the team just lost to much all at once and it will take an offseason or two to recover but I don't think they are in such horrible shape that it will send them into a tail spin and turn them into the Raiders but of the NFC

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Nobody Walk On

Nobody

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Well they did get better after he hired Harbaugh....Though I think they are going through a case where the team just lost to much all at once and it will take an offseason or two to recover but I don't think they are in such horrible shape that it will send them into a tail spin and turn them into the Raiders but of the NFC

The odds of finding another Harbaugh are slim, especially since York and Baalke seek to want a yes man at HC. I feel really bad for 49ers fans.
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Nobody Walk On

Nobody

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This is a sad day for any & all Wisconsin Badgers Alumni man. He was an incredible LB. Man, SW1 is really depressed now. WI doesn't have that many college to NFL stars at the next level: JJ Watt, Russell Wilson, Owen Daniels just off the top of my head. Sorry Chris. I understand your fear over concussions & brain trauma. I enjoyed watching you succeed in San Francisco Chris. Good luck as you plan the next phase of your life.

http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-footbl/Badgers-in-the-NFL.htmlToday I learned Joe Thomas went to Wisky. I feel like I should know that but I really couldn't have told you where he went to school.
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Synthetic Walk On

Synthetic

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Can't say I blame him at all.

 

He's being smart. Concussions will end up being the death of the NFL cause a game that's bread and butter is violent hits, cannot be fixed. This will happen after someone gets paralyzed and possibly dies on the field (we're pretty close to getting there, especially with college level) 

 

There's better things to do in life that don't require athletic physical strength that put your brain at major risk with injury. we may love this game, but we can't hide the fact the consequences that happen to one's body that is being sacrificed for our entertainment. The older I get, I become more disturbed by the thought of it. Seeing Earl Campbell's state of condition and now recently Tony Dorsett's health problems are very disturbing. 

 

I'm glad players are retiring left and right at young ages, cause on the other hand people often blame the victim here "but they signed up for it and knew the risks". Don't care. As much money as the NFL makes, the least they could do to help players that use their brain and have second thoughts is simple; offer them a universal healthcare plan and pay their medical bills for them (considering the NFL is the capitalist here and is marketing and creating profit from these players, yes I suggest pay all their medical bills for them. That's the least they can do to show appreciation). This corporation makes billions of dollars, it's no excuse. The NFL don't even pay for Earl Campbell who is crippled and can't even walk after he sacrificed his body to them for entertainment purposes. If the NFL had a universal healthcare system and paid for players medical bills and really went out of their way to care about them, this issue would lighten up in the eyes of non-football fans that are always bringing up the health concerns. 

 

Good for him, and I am hoping the best for him in his life. 

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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To Bogie's point, I wonder how concerned the NFL is over this. It is not like Borland was some scrub who was not going to have a long career to begin with. He was Willis' replacement and had a great year last year with them. He had a lot of money is his future AND still walked away. This has to send off red flags to the league and owners ...

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DougDew Ring of Honor

DougDew

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I think after the NFL accepts your retirement papers a player become a free agent and free to sign a bigger contract with a different team in the next year or so, if he reconsiders his retirement out of the "love and passion I have for the game I've played since childhood", or something similar.  Same goes for Willis.

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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I think after the NFL accepts your retirement papers a player become a free agent and free to sign a bigger contract with a different team in the next year or so, if he reconsiders his retirement out of the "love and passion I have for the game I've played since childhood", or something similar.  Same goes for Willis.

I don't believe so. The niners own his rights so if he un-retires I believe he is their property.

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BrentMc11 Walk On

BrentMc11

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Colts long snapper Matt Overton wrote, “Guys deciding to walk away from the game at a young age is a great reminder to us all that life has a bigger picture."

I have a lot of respect for Borland. All the best to him.

Overton is truly a class act!!  :)  

 

Best of Luck to Borland.

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pacolts56 Active Roster

pacolts56

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To Bogie's point, I wonder how concerned the NFL is over this. It is not like Borland was some scrub who was not going to have a long career to begin with. He was Willis' replacement and had a great year last year with them. He had a lot of money is his future AND still walked away. This has to send off red flags to the league and owners ...

They better be concerned.

 

It's only one story, but its part of a larger mosaic that is refocusing people on the concussion issue for sure....and in the short term, the NFL will have to continue to adjust to a new medically-confirmed reality about concussions and injuries in general, along with a fairer level of medical compensation....or a second cascade of lawsuits if they don't.

 

And along those lines, can litigation against the almost equally successful NCAA be far behind? 

 

One early trickle down effect of all this is the "Heads Up" campaign in youth football which the NFL is promoting, but it still hasn't blunted a growing discussion out there of how a number parents maybe seriously begin to steer their kids away from football entirely.

 

And over the long-term I believe the NFL has another problem.

 

Because by 2042 the demographics in the U.S. will shift dramatically toward a population much more rooted in the sport of soccer....and strange or ridiculous as THIS may sound...the NFL could very well see the passing of its popularity as invincible.

 

This and a number of other stubbornly recurrent issues are not helping what I believe to be the larger, long-term demographic challenge to the NFL's popularity....one that NFL forays abroad have not only done little to inspire a great deal of confidence, but now carry this concussion/long-term health tag along.

 

The NFL has enjoyed the $$$$ mountaintop of sports popularity for a long time....and I believe we are seeing the apex of it now, but I think it will begin to wane a bit over time. This doesn't mean NFL football is doomed....it just means that over time it will settle along side other sports, namely soccer, in the quest for our interest and sports dollars.

 

It sounds absurd now....but there was also a time when I suspect MLB owners were snickering at something called the NFL.

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amfootball Walk On

amfootball

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They better be concerned.

 

It's only one story, but its part of a larger mosaic that is refocusing people on the concussion issue for sure....and in the short term, the NFL will have to continue to adjust to a new medically-confirmed reality about concussions and injuries in general, along with a fairer level of medical compensation....or a second cascade of lawsuits if they don't.

 

And along those lines, can litigation against the almost equally successful NCAA be far behind? 

 

One early trickle down effect of all this is the "Heads Up" campaign in youth football which the NFL is promoting, but it still hasn't blunted a growing discussion out there of how a number parents maybe seriously begin to steer their kids away from football entirely.

 

And over the long-term I believe the NFL has another problem.

 

Because by 2042 the demographics in the U.S. will shift dramatically toward a population much more rooted in the sport of soccer....and strange or ridiculous as THIS may sound...the NFL could very well see the passing of its popularity as invincible.

 

This and a number of other stubbornly recurrent issues are not helping what I believe to be the larger, long-term demographic challenge to the NFL's popularity....one that NFL forays abroad have not only done little to inspire a great deal of confidence, but now carry this concussion/long-term health tag along.

 

The NFL has enjoyed the $$$$ mountaintop of sports popularity for a long time....and I believe we are seeing the apex of it now, but I think it will begin to wane a bit over time. This doesn't mean NFL football is doomed....it just means that over time it will settle along side other sports, namely soccer, in the quest for our interest and sports dollars.

 

It sounds absurd now....but there was also a time when I suspect MLB owners were snickering at something called the NFL.

Mark Cuban felt the NFL would decline due to over saturation of the market. He too could be partly right. The good times never roll on forever.

 

This concussion thing is serious business and there really is no panacea to stop it as the sport itself is collision-based. This type of decision by a rookie 24 year old with a promising career will send some shock waves. And there is a decline of young boys going into football in the US but certainly not enough to really effect the numbers yet at a pro level.

 

But as you say soccer is on the door step but I just don't think soccer will get the TV viewship unless they radically change the rules. That is what is killing baseball. It is such a slow sport and now there is talk of making the pitchers and hitters speed up their time on the mound and batters box but that is not the issue at all. The sport is not TV friendly the way the NFL is and unless soccer becomes more explosive on the offensive side I just can't see it really challenging the American sports landscape ...

 

I agree about the NCAA. They bear some accountability in this too.

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Thewholefnshow28 Walk On

Thewholefnshow28

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To Bogie's point, I wonder how concerned the NFL is over this. It is not like Borland was some scrub who was not going to have a long career to begin with. He was Willis' replacement and had a great year last year with them. He had a lot of money is his future AND still walked away. This has to send off red flags to the league and owners ...

 

Considering how hard the NFL fought to discredit the information coming out about concussions.  The NFL only took steps to help once their hands were finally forced.  So I think the NFL takes it very seriously as it jeopardizes the longevity of the sport. When you hear these stories about how these guys suffer after retirement it just has to make you as a fan have some kind of pause.  I am sure there will be some who do not care whatsoever and would have made good fans of the Roman Coliseum, but if it makes the fan have pause what about the fans with boys?

 

As more studies come out and more information comes out I think the NFL will be fighting a losing battle.  There are only so much you can do rules wise, but you just cannot change the very nature of the game.

 

I would not be surprised if in 20 years the NBA is king again and soccer has emerged as a premier sport in this country.  Yeah the NFL has those high schoolers, college kids and professionals now, but what about all of the kids starting to grow up now?  Those are the parents seeing the ramifications of what years in football are.  

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-JJ- Walk On

-JJ-

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Soccer safer than NFL concussions?

 

Probably worse- ask the Italians. 60mph ball hitting your head multiple times in a game.

 

The recent conclusive report on Lou Gehrig's disease from NFL player concussions was sent to Italy who have been working on this problem for years.

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dgambill Practice Squad

dgambill

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Chris Borland retiring is a small domino in the grand scheme of things within the NFL. We've seen guys retire early for many years. He was promising and a great young player but lets not pretend like we are the avg NFL fans here. We are informed etc....most don't even know who this guy is. It would take some big name players in their prime to walk away to grab peoples attention. The NFL has more to fear from high schools and states cutting football from their sponsored sports then a player or two retiring. Don't get me wrong...I fully understand the seriousness of concussions etc but I'm just being a realist. The NFL has never been more popular and making more money...even after the train wreck that was last off-season with domestic violence etc. I understand why he is retiring and respect it...but I'm not going to make it a bigger deal than it is. We've seen guys retire because they would rather play video games, they were unfullfilled, and yes because of fears of injuries. It isn't going unnoticed but its a passing story. The media may try to push an agenda and promote these stories down the road but this is the exception...a very rare one...and there are thousands wanting to replace him.

 

The NFL needs to be more worried about the high school game and protecting young athletes than a few guys here and there retiring out of fear of injuries. One school district stops playing football....than another...than another...and maybe then a whole state of public schools decide to not sponsor it anymore...that would be more damning and it isn't even close.

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