What Chris Borland's Retirement Means for the NFL
The 2015 NFL offseason has been a whirlwind these past couple weeks. There has been north of a billion dollars worth of contracts handed out to players of all calibers, unexpected trades that have changed the landscape of the NFL, and a football coach in Chip Kelly who may be the single craziest person on the face of the Earth. Truth be told, it’s a football fans dream; this offseason has been amazing in every sense of the word and if you’re a fan of this great game you probably love every second of it. If you have the misfortune of being a 49ers fan, however, well this offseason might not be for you.
The 49ers have lost
players left, right and center through a variety of ways, such as cuts, free agents,
and retirements; some were expected, others were surprising. When Patrick
Willis retired from pro football, despite continuing to be a standout player
and great leader, it hurt the 49ers. It was unexpected, but not insurmountable.
Players like Navarro Bowman and Chris Borland could be expected to handle the
load as they did during his extended absence in 2014. The next retirement was
almost more shocking and perhaps even more insurmountable though; not just for
the 49ers but the NFL as a whole.
On March 17th,
2015, 49ers linebacker, and seeming successor to Patrick Willis’ role in the
San Francisco defense, announced his
retirement from the NFL. To give some background on Chris Borland, his is not a
veteran player, he is not an oft-injured journeyman who’s decided to hang them
up; Borland is a rookie linebacker drafted in the 3rd round of the
2014 draft coming on a productive season. Currently on his rookie contract,
Borland is forfeiting approximately 1.5 million dollars of his remaining deal,
and untold millions from future contracts. The particularly disturbing thing
isn’t the amount of money left on the table but rather the reason why he has
chosen to leave so much money on the table: injuries, rather the potential of
injuries.
Borland has gone on
to say that he “wants to do what’s best for [his] health,” and he “[doesn’t]
think it’s worth the risk.” Objectively speaking these comments for the most
part make sense; there have and always will be an injury risk associated with
playing football. Fans of course have reacted in a number of ways to the news:
some have shown support to Borland, others unsurprisingly have called him
“soft” or “weak” for “giving up” on his NFL career. Another quote from the man
seems to put things in perspective: "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?'"
Really thinking about what Borland’s saying and
internalizing it really does make us question the life style of an NFL player. For
most of you reading this, every day, we wake up, we go to school or work, but
never once do we have to be seriously concerned about our personal health as a
result of what we’re doing. Imagine that every day there was a quantifiable
chance that you might leave work or school with an injury that could ruin your
life. Imagine waking up every day knowing that there you are likely to have horrible
health problems later in life because of what you’re about to go and do. Would
we still go to school or work if those risks were truly as present as they are
in the NFL. I would venture as far as to say ‘NO’, we wouldn’t. But that’s why
we’re not football players; sure it’s easy to be an armchair coach or GM and
talk about how easy it is to player football and get paid millions for it, but
every day the players are seriously putting their health and well being on the
line. So maybe it is understandable why Borland retired, I mean I can hardly
fault him. No more than that, I respect him for doing it.
To make it to the NFL a player must commit their time
lives to it. To achieve what Borland did, took years upon years of absolute
dedication to the game of football. To be just on the cusp of greatness in what
you’ve dedicated your life to, to be on the verge of making millions each year,
being celebrated by a city… to make the decision to give that up for your
future well being is simply incredible. It’s commendable what Chris Borland has
done, and yes, the NFL should be worried.
Let’s not get out of hand here, the NFL is going to be
fine; as long as there are million dollar contracts to play football, people
will sacrifice life and limb to play the game. What Borland’s retirement does
though is set a precedent for future players, young and old, who may have
reservations about the game. To see a player willing to sacrifice so much
because of the injury concerns associated with it speaks volumes to just how
dangerous a game it can be and also to the shift in mentality some players are
experiencing.
Of course the NFL will continue to do everything it can
to protect its players and more importantly its image, but how much can really
be done? The one thing that is truly incredible about football players,
particularly in the NFL, and may also be their downfall – is their persistence. In a
world of non-guaranteed contracts, every down counts, especially for a player
trying to make an impact. Players continue to play through injuries and
concussions for fear of getting cut, benched, or not getting a contract at all.
The amount of pressure on each and every one of those players every time they
step onto the field is enormous. Another thing; players know they're replaceable. So, players will continue to go out there even
though they can’t see straight, they will try and play through that torn muscle
and they will try and be as persistent as ever, because that’s what so many players
need to do to succeed in the NFL, and so many are blind to the toll it takes.
Chris Borland isn’t ‘many players’ though. Many players show strength,
persistence and athleticism, but few show the foresight of Borland, and when
it’s all said and done maybe that makes him an even more successful football
player.
- Colin
 |
| Chris Borland |
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