Chris Borland retires

[amfootball]

His decision doesn't reflect poorly on the league. His decision says 'I -- Chris Borland -- don't want to risk long-term damage in order to keep playing, and I'm making this decision because I can.' Knowing that he's already been diagnosed with at least two concussions, his decision is obviously very personal, and it obviously doesn't apply to everyone.

 

As for this communications angle, "he didn't think about it enough before he said it," and so on, nah. I reject that. He didn't say it the way you think he should have, but that doesn't mean he didn't say it the way he thought he should. Unless something comes out that suggests he has an agenda of one kind or another, his comments appear to be genuine and authentic, and there's no reason he should apologize for that.

It reflects extremely poorly regardless of how wholesome his decision is for himself or his his health. His decision is akin to the Saints and Bountygate in terms of its impact on the league and everything it has been positioning itself against since Roger took over. For him at age 24 to retire because of a fear of CTE is everything the league has been campaigning against at the pro level, college level, high school level and youth level. It goes counter to everything the league has been doing to make the game safer from better equipment, to better concussion protocol, to better rules to prevent head injury. It also gives even more reason and pause for parents of young boys, especially parents who are of a higher level of income and education like Borland to decide against putting their son into football for fear of head injury. And as I already posted earlier, it is giving every team pause now as the draft approaches about what young men they will select and if other Borland's are lurking as he most certainly did not fit the profile of a player that anyone thought would walk away at age 24 for this reason of all reasons.

 

I never said he should apologize as that would not do any good anyways. His reasons are his and I believe are true for him. My only point is he would have been better served to position his exit better given this league gave him a chance of a lifetime that he is opting to give back and also for his peers who as he said are not in the same privileged position he is to be able to walk away. I am certain he did not weigh any of this nearly as scrupulously as he did when researching CTE and making his decision to retire.

[jvan1973]

It reflects extremely poorly regardless of how wholesome his decision is for himself or his his health. His decision is akin to the Saints and Bountygate in terms of its impact on the league and everything it has been positioning itself against since Roger took over. For him at age 24 to retire because of a fear of CTE is everything the league has been campaigning against at the pro level, college level, high school level and youth level. It goes counter to everything the league has been doing to make the game safer from better equipment, to better concussion protocol, to better rules to prevent head injury. It also gives even more reason and pause for parents of young boys, especially parents who are of a higher level of income and education like Borland to decide against putting their son into football for fear of head injury. And as I already posted earlier, it is giving every team pause now as the draft approaches about what young men they will select and if other Borland's are lurking as he most certainly did not fit the profile of a player that anyone thought would walk away at age 24 for this reason of all reasons.

I never said he should apologize as that would not do any good anyways. His reasons are his and I believe are true for him. My only point is he would have been better served to position his exit better given this league gave him a chance of a lifetime that he is opting to give back and also for his peers who as he said are not in the same privileged position he is to be able to walk away. I am certain he did not weigh any of this nearly as scrupulously as he did when researching CTE and making his decision to retire.

The league gave him nothing. He earned his way into the league with his play in college.

This will have zero impact on the league. There are thousands of players waiting to take his spot that he chose to give back

[amfootball]

The league gave him nothing. He earned his way into the league with his play in college.

You apparently did not read his draft history and how the niners took a gamble on him given he did not fit the prototype of an NFL linebacker.

[jvan1973]

You apparently did not read his draft history and how the niners took a gamble on him given he did not fit the prototype of an NFL linebacker.

I did, he still earned his way in. He was a third round pick. Had he not been drafted by the niners another team would have picked him up

[amfootball]

I did, he still earned his way in. He was a third round pick. Had he not been drafted by the niners another team would have picked him up

I never said he did not deserve to be in the league.

[southwest1]

I don't get the sense that anyone thinks his choice is not his choice, although some do think he is making a poor decision not to keep playing because of the rare opportunity he has to play pro ball and to make a lot of money, but ultimately people get his choice I think. But right now this CTE is red hot and has been for some time since the law suit so his decision reflects extremely poorly on the league which has been doing everything in its power to make the game safer with new rules, concussion protocols, equipment, etc. And then on top of that he talks about his education and class as enabling him to leave the game while others cannot do the same given their circumstances/backgrounds. 

 

I really don't care either way whether he played or retired as he is not a player for my team but as with everything I am looking at the communications of it and I think it was not handled well at all by him and that may be because he just did not put enough time into thinking about it as he did with his research to leave the game.

I keep going back & forth over the access to millions in cash by being a star player in the NFL vs access to a graduate education which gives a person more choices in life other than helmet collisions to earn a paycheck. Fame on NFL stage puts you on a global platform which allows you to rub elbows with top actors, record producers, entertainment lawyers, & silicon valley gods of the computer industry like Bill Gates & the former head of Apple Steve Jobs. Here's my point: You have a niece who wants to later become a Computer Programmer for Microsoft let me arrange a meeting with you with executes at Microsoft. All it takes is 1 phone call. You have a son who wants to go to film school. 1 call & I can arrange a sit down session with director Michael Mann. You have a daughter who wants to become a record producer. 1 call & Quincy Jones can drop by the house, inform you on what the best sound engineering programs there are in the country, how to pay for your education, & give Quincy a call once you have your diploma in your hand. There's no way, any influential celebrity or pinnacle of the computer industry would ever return his call say 3 years removed from playing professional football. 

 

In addition, if a LB is good enough, he will make millions more over his lifetime in a shorter span than he ever could with say a master's in sports medicine at a Big 10 college over 40 years. 

 

Also, you made a valid point about athletes from poverty stricken backgrounds. They have no other options. They can't fail. There is no backup plan to dying poor & living hand to mouth on bread crumbs. Even if they get severely injured on the field so be it because at least for a short while an NFL salary game them a nice home, a nice car, food in the fridge, & nice clothes on their backs. 

 

I'm basically saying I liked the questions you posed AMF & I disagree slightly with Superman that walking away from the NFL will still put Borland into contact with influential movers & shakers in the longrun. It won't because he Chris Borland wasn't in the league long enough or playing at an elite level long enough. 

 

I will admit that Chris left the Niners abruptly leaving them caught off guard & yes, he could have handled his departure better but San Fran has plenty of time to find or draft his replacement. 

[Nobody]

who?

Bobby Wagner

[Superman]

Bobby Wagner

 

Not really...

 

http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2015/03/17/seahawks-bobby-wagner-reacts-to-retirement-of-49ers-chris-borland/

[NFLfan]

Bobby Wagner

Can you share what he said? All I could find was a tweet saying,

"No offense to anyone but I'm playing until I can't anymore. I love this game to much."

11:40 PM - 16 Mar 2015

He does not sound critical of Borland. He is saying he would not make the same decision.

[Superman]

Can you share what he said? All I could find was a tweet saying,

"No offense to anyone but I'm playing until I can't anymore. I love this game to much."

11:40 PM - 16 Mar 2015

He does not sound critical of Borland. He is saying he would not make the same decision.

 

I posted it above. Here it is: http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2015/03/17/seahawks-bobby-wagner-reacts-to-retirement-of-49ers-chris-borland/

[NFLfan]

I posted it above. Here it is: http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2015/03/17/seahawks-bobby-wagner-reacts-to-retirement-of-49ers-chris-borland/

Okay, I did not see it. Thank you.

Wagner does not seem to have much of a problem with Borland's decision or the reason for his decision.

[Nobody]

Okay, I did not see it. Thank you.

Wagner does not seem to have much of a problem with Borland's decision or the reason for his decision.

He tweeted this just after the news came out. To me it sounds like he's questioning Borland's love for the game and saying he loves it more (valid point IMO)

[NFLfan]

He tweeted this just after the news came out. To me it sounds like he's questioning Borland's love for the game and saying he loves it more (valid point IMO)

I dont see that at all.

Your original point was this:

to be fair, players have spoken out against what he did

So, you believe Wagner is "speaking out against what he did" with those tweets? I don't see that at all. You and a few others want to believe that. Fans often criticize the media for sensationalizing and creating a story out of nothing. This is exactly what you are doing with Wagner's comments.

When you find players calling Borland a quitter, coward, liar, etc, please let me know. I don't think you will find any.

[amfootball]

Okay, I did not see it. Thank you.

Wagner does not seem to have much of a problem with Borland's decision or the reason for his decision.

No offense to anyone but I'm playing until I can't anymore. I love this game to much.

 

I'm a believer in law of attraction :: Ur mind controls a lot more than people think. What u think will happen will happen.

 

My path is to be the best linebacker in this game. Be better than the ones before us and set the bar high for the ones after.

 

How can you read the above quotes and conclude that Wager did not have issue with Borland's choice? His tweets indicate that he feels Borland does not love the game as much as him and that his fear of CTE is controlling his mind too much. I see the tweets as very pointed and in direct opposition to Borland's decision.

 

I will give you another one from Brandon Marshall:

So P. Willis and Chris Borland? They know something that we don’t?

 

And from Damien Woody:

"Privately guys will wonder if Borland quit."

[ruksak]

 

 

And from Damien Woody:

"Privately guys will wonder if Borland quit."

I guess I've been wondering aloud.

[Nadine]

Enough of attempting to malign Borland because he said his reason for leaving the NFL was concern about head injury.

 

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