Ex-San Francisco linebacker Chris Borland is not your normal 24-year-old. He has shocked the NFL world with the news that he is walking away from the game, and the money. Big money.
And if you believe Borland, his decision rests on his ability to still be able to walk away at all.
Borland just turned his back on a reported $463,077. That is roughly three-quarters of the $617,436 signing bonus he earned when the third-round draft choice out of Wisconsin signed a four-year contract to play for the 49ers.
The 49ers are, of course, the team Jarryd Hayne is looking to break into from the practice squad to the active squad.
Borland is calling it quits after his outstanding rookie season for one reason – head injuries.
All the focus on concussions and the cumulative effect of repeatedly running into other people and the damage it does to your brain is casting new light on football’s darkest secret: the game is killing people.
Maybe not right away, but down the line there is an exceptionally steep price to pay.
On ESPN’s Outside the lines, Borland addressed his fears, concerns and the reason a top young athlete is walking away from a game he still loves.
“I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” Borland confided. “From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk…
“I feel largely the same, as sharp as I’ve ever been, for me it’s wanting to be proactive. I’m concerned that if you wait [until] you have symptoms, it’s too late…
“There are a lot of unknowns. I can’t claim that ‘x’ will happen. I just want to live a long, healthy life, and I don’t want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise.”
Four players age 30 or younger have retired in a little over a week.
The 49ers’ tremendously gifted Patrick Willis called it quits last week. Willis played sparingly last year with an injured toe, but it was assumed he would be back healthy and certainly well enough to resume his path to the NFL’s Hall of Fame.
Willis played eight glorious seasons as an inside linebacker for San Francisco. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl player and a five-time first team All-Pro. A foot injury didn’t seem like the way he career would end, however, perhaps the violent NFL landscape and the new awareness of head injuries gave Willis pause.
In boxing we used to say, “there’s only so much tread on the tire.” Sadly, that is also the case in football.
James Worilds, the 27-year-old former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker and edge rusher, is stepping away from the game to devote more time to his religion.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker has elected to retire because he maintains he has lost his passion for football.
All this is probably true – we have no reason not to believe these young men. However, the lingering doubt is floating out there as the price you pay to play this violent game becomes more and more obvious.
When Borland elected to retire he alluded to three veteran players who all died young. Pittsburg Steelers Hall of Fame centre Mike Webster struggled with amnesia, dementia and depression before dying from a heart attack at age 50. Two former NFL safeties, the Chicago Bears’ Dave Duerson and the Atlanta Falcons’ Ray Easterling, both died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds that were ruled death by suicide.
Easterling’s autopsy revealed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), progressive damage to the brain that has been linked to blows to the head, and determined that it was the underlying major condition that accounted for Easterling’s mental problems, depression and memory loss. Easterling took his own life at 62.
Duerson died at age 50, after shooting himself in the chest. Duerson’s brain was sent to Boston University School of Medicine for research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It was determined by neurologists at Boston University that Duerson also suffered from CTE, as a result of concussions he experienced during his 11 years in the NFL playing for the Chicago Bears, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals.
“I’ve thought about what I could accomplish in football, but for me personally, when you read about Mike Webster and Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, you read all these stories and to be the type of player I want to be in football, I think I’d have to take on some risks that as a person I don’t want to take on,” Borland explained.
A little less than three years ago, NFL Hall of Famer and San Diego Chargers star linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. In 2006, former Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals safety Andre Waters, a 12-year pro, was found dead at 44 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The casualty rate is alarming, it is climbing, and it can often be traced back to head injuries, concussions, and the onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Now a few players are stepping away from the game early, and Chris Borland is just the latest athlete to retire after reflecting on the NFL’s dance with death.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: An explanation
Boston University has been examining samples of brain tissue from athletes for a number of years. In the past, professional boxers were often labeled as “punch drunk,” but it really was the case of the onset of CTE.Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes (and others) with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as asymptomatic subconcussive hits to the head.
CTE has been known to affect boxers since the 1920s. However, recent reports have been published of neuropathologically confirmed CTE in retired professional football players and other athletes who have a history of repetitive brain trauma. This trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau.
These changes in the brain can begin months, years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement. The brain degeneration is associated with memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.
For advice and support for anxiety and depression, don’t hesitate to reach out to Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
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