Chris Borland is 24 years old. He played Division 1 football at the University of Wisconsin where he was ranked sixth in career tackles. He came in to the NFL last season as one of the top rookies. He was drafted in the third round to the San Francisco 49ers where he played linebacker.
Borland won rookie of the week twice and was defensive rookie of the month in November. In his first year in the league he was earning the league minimum of $420,000 and a $154,000 bonus. Everything seemed to be lining up excellently for Borland and that is why everyone was surprised when he announced yesterday that he is going to be leaving the NFL. Why would someone who worked their whole life to become a professional athlete leave the sport right when their career is taking off? Borland says that he is leaving because he is concerned about his safety.
Borland told ESPN, "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk." Many retired professional athletes having been seeing the side effects of playing a contact sport like football for an extended amount of time. Borland expressed a big concern about the constant head injuries that football players occur. Even though the league has been implementing rules trying to prevent major head injuries, they are still going to continue to happen.
49ers' general manager, Trent Baalke said in a statement, "While unexpected, we certainly respect Chris' decision, from speaking with Chris, it was evident that he had put a great deal of thought into this decision." I think that it very important that the general manager and the team are behind Borland in his decision.
Many athletes have a dream of becoming a professional athlete. While they are in high school it is all the focus on. If they are lucky they are given a full ride to play their sport and get an education. Many athletes do not think about the physical toll sport has on their bodies and the long term effects it can leave. I think that it was smart for Borland is leave the league if he is truly concerned about his health. This is something that he put a tremendous amount of thought into and if his safety and healthy truly was at risk then he certainly made the right decision and I am happy people are supporting him. Many athletes do not realize that there is more to life than sports. If you ignore the injuries, especially head injuries, you can be ruining your life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/sports/football/49ers-linebacker-citing-injury-risk-joins-list-of-nfl-retirees.html
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