Chris Borland to retire from 49ers over long term health concerns

Donate To GopherHole

Tim Riggins said:
I wonder if this will become a trend with other young stars (not sure he qualifies as a star yet but likely would have had a promising career).

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=12496480&src=desktop&rand=ref%7E%7B%22ref%22%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FfUnFQYUZN5%22%7D

Hope the link worked.
Click to expand...
will only become a trend to those who got their degree and can afford to walk away from millions. To many people, the ability to make 20 million dollars is worth the risk, our worse the only real choice.
 

This is what the beginning of a very slow ending looks like.
 

Similar to what another former badger did, John Moffit. I don't think Moffit's concern were primarily over head injuries but knees and his body as a whole.
 

Well...it's not exactly the Pat Tillman Story. I doubt there will be a statue.

Considering we had a scenario recently of no shortage of men willing to sign up for the opportunity to have their bells rung and limbs blown off in far away war zones for rewards far less than millions of dollars I doubt football is going away anytime soon. You guys are demonstrating a mindset of "first world problems". You and the moms of america have to be privileged to even think this way. The effect on pro sports will be minimal.
 


Pompous Elitist said:
Well...it's not exactly the Pat Tillman Story. I doubt there will be a statue.

Considering we had a scenario recently of no shortage of men willing to sign up for the opportunity to have their bells rung and limbs blown off in far away war zones for rewards far less than millions of dollars I doubt football is going away anytime soon. You guys are demonstrating a mindset of "first world problems". You and the moms of america have to be privileged to even think this way. The effect on pro sports will be minimal.
Click to expand...

I hope so.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Well...it's not exactly the Pat Tillman Story. I doubt there will be a statue.

Considering we had a scenario recently of no shortage of men willing to sign up for the opportunity to have their bells rung and limbs blown off in far away war zones for rewards far less than millions of dollars I doubt football is going away anytime soon. You guys are demonstrating a mindset of "first world problems". You and the moms of america have to be privileged to even think this way. The effect on pro sports will be minimal.
Click to expand...

It is not uncommon for drug dealers to "retire" early with no shortage of those willing to replace them despite the occupational risks. I'm guessing the NFL is not much different.
 

Pompous Elitist said:
Well...it's not exactly the Pat Tillman Story. I doubt there will be a statue.

Considering we had a scenario recently of no shortage of men willing to sign up for the opportunity to have their bells rung and limbs blown off in far away war zones for rewards far less than millions of dollars I doubt football is going away anytime soon. You guys are demonstrating a mindset of "first world problems". You and the moms of america have to be privileged to even think this way. The effect on pro sports will be minimal.
Click to expand...

What scenario is that? You can't possibly be referring to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we had such a severe shortage of volunteers that we lowered the standards for enlistment, increased the frequency of war zone troop rotation, and significantly increased the re-enlistment bonus.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Was there a draft? Besides the quasi-draft of Stop-Loss in the early years? Besides, the economy was booming until 2008. The recruiting became easier and now with downsizing they are turning people away in droves.

You are essentially making my argument. Guys with few options are willing to sign up for dangerous occupations for a measly 20 or 30k signing bonus, or less. If a young man has the athletic ability you bet your bibby they are going to try and make it to college then then NFL. The sport may suffer in the suburban enclaves but it will survive everywhere else.

The largest threat to college football today is the ongoing push for unionization and the lack of recognition by the Power 5 leaders that they are crossing the line of no return with their policies and lack of policies to combat this. I fear that college football as we know it may go away, but football itself won't. It'll be around in some form; ivy-league model, minor league, club etc.
 



I understand your take on the state of college football. However, your claim that there wasn't a shortage of young men lining up to go to war simply isn't true. Remember we also needed to activate the national guard and reserves to have enough soldiers. However, now that the wars are nearly at an end, we are turning away some volunteers again, just like pre 9-11.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I agree there isn't an infinite supply of young men willing to go to a war zone willingly; witness Vietnam. My point is that even when there is knowledge of the horrors awaiting them there are men willing to sign up for a pittance.

Now take football. There have been somewhere between 30-40 documented cases of CTE amongst the tens of thousands of former NFL players. It's a fairly low casualty rate, with a very high reward. The condition hasn't been well-defined or fully studied via epidemiological studies at this time.

In any case, there are MANY dangerous occupations. Take your average electrical lineman. He is out in all kinds of weather conditions and working with high voltage and AC current. That is a pretty dangerous occupation. Probably more dangerous than most non-combat military occupations. Guys sign up to do it.

Guys sign up to be deep sea fishermen, loggers, police and fire, factory workers, and dozens of other dangerous jobs because they need to make a living. If one has a god-given athletic ability and wasn't born with a silver spoon in the mouth they would be fools to give up a college and NFL career.
 

Fools? Depends on what other skill set they have and how well they took advantage of their free education. As we get better retrospective and prospective data on the incidence and risk factors for developing trauma-related dementia, the question of whether the financial rewards of playing football are worth the risk developing progressive dementia will become more frequent.
 

Granted Borland and others are at a risk of one severe collision ending their career (and life as they may know it) in the NFL, but much of the damage may already have been done. The repetitive blows that occur normally during the course of a football game especially during adolescence while the brain is still developing may be the bigger risk. He should have quit years ago...for his sake and ours (stupid badgers).
 



Pompous Elitist said:
I agree there isn't an infinite supply of young men willing to go to a war zone willingly; witness Vietnam. My point is that even when there is knowledge of the horrors awaiting them there are men willing to sign up for a pittance.
Click to expand...
I served 8 years on Active Duty and another 12 in the Reserves. I did it because, I felt I had a Duty to serve, not because it was a job. I think that for a lot of people serving in the Military, Police, or Fire Service, it is a calling and not a job.
 

It's a choice you have to make. People refuse to hop on motorcycles because there is a risk of death or injury. Others choose to ride at every chance they get. Risk is always there.

From a football standpoint, good luck to the 49ers. They are coming apart at the seams.
 

nsmike said:
I served 8 years on Active Duty and another 12 in the Reserves. I did it because, I felt I had a Duty to serve, not because it was a job. I think that for a lot of people serving in the Military, Police, or Fire Service, it is a calling and not a job.
Click to expand...

Yeah the military analogy is not a good one because there is one extreme difference. Pretty much anyone that truly wants to can serve in the military or can get the training needed to be a police officer or fireman. Only an extremely small percentage of the population has what it takes to play NFL football.

So while PE is right in saying there would be no shortage of people willing to signup to take on the risks associated with playing NFL football the percentage of those people actually skilled enough to do it is going to be tiny.

The bottom line in all of this is that the game of football isn't going away but it is clear that there are going to be some pretty substantial changes that take place in how the game is played over the next 10 years or so. If more and more NFL players start walking away from the game at young ages that will rapidly accelerate the pace of change.
 

GopherHomer said:
Granted Borland and others are at a risk of one severe collision ending their career (and life as they may know it) in the NFL, but much of the damage may already have been done. The repetitive blows that occur normally during the course of a football game especially during adolescence while the brain is still developing may be the bigger risk. He should have quit years ago...for his sake and ours (stupid badgers).
Click to expand...

Maybe. Though from what I've seen its not the guys that played youth and HS FB that have issues its the guys that play years in the NFL banging head with the biggest, strongest, fastest guys in the world that have problems.
 

When I was a kid, my brother and I used to butt heads to see who was toughest.

The wall won every time. :banghead::banghead::banghead:
 

GopherHomer said:
Granted Borland and others are at a risk of one severe collision ending their career (and life as they may know it) in the NFL, but much of the damage may already have been done. The repetitive blows that occur normally during the course of a football game especially during adolescence while the brain is still developing may be the bigger risk. He should have quit years ago...for his sake and ours (stupid badgers).
Click to expand...

Questionable or limited research at best if you're referring to this paper, don't perpetuate the media alarmist headlines on this subject unless you've got a different source, in which case please share! Bottom line is not enough is known yet about this subject.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056805.

This thread was already done awhile back discussing this:
http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/bo...-of-football-from-StarTrib-opinion-page/page8

If Borland feels he should get out then he's free to do it. He got his degree. He made a bit of money to get his life started. Good on him. Freedom of choice is a beautiful thing.
 

According to the NCAA, it's estimated that there are slightly more than 1-million athletes playing HS FB. Of that group, only 6.5% will receive college scholarships. Of the College FB players, only 1.6% will be drafted by the NFL.

So, even if fewer players go out for HS or College FB, there would have to be a fairly drastic reduction in the total # of players to have a significant impact on the NFL.

I'm not trying to minimize the impact that FB has on the human body (and mind) - I just don't think we're looking at any apocalyptic impact on the game for some time. I also expect to see more research done toward developing better and safer equipment. And the biggest impact on the game could involve coaching - there needs to be a commitment at all levels of the game - especially at HS and younger - to teach blocking and tackling methods that don't involve leading with the head. I could also see some type of legislation coming down the line that mandates better training and certification for youth coaches. Where I live, they have a youth tackle FB program for kids starting in the 3rd grade, and all the coaches are parents and volunteers. I'm not sure how much training is required, but I'm guessing more training/certification would not hurt.
 

Ole said:
Questionable or limited research at best if you're referring to this paper, don't perpetuate the media alarmist headlines on this subject unless you've got a different source, in which case please share! Bottom line is not enough is known yet about this subject.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056805.

This thread was already done awhile back discussing this:
http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/bo...-of-football-from-StarTrib-opinion-page/page8

If Borland feels he should get out then he's free to do it. He got his degree. He made a bit of money to get his life started. Good on him. Freedom of choice is a beautiful thing.
Click to expand...

I admit that there is limited research up to this point...but there have been studies. I tried not to speak in absolutes with my post...using words like "may" because I understand that the science is young. Basically my post was less a scientific paper, and more just a setup to say I wish he would have decided to quit before he was a successful badger.
 

[SUP][/SUP]
GopherHomer said:
I admit that there is limited research up to this point...but there have been studies. I tried not to speak in absolutes with my post...using words like "may" because I understand that the science is young. Basically my post was less a scientific paper, and more just a setup to say I wish he would have decided to quit before he was a successful badger.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, I'm with you there.
 

MNVCGUY said:
Yeah the military analogy is not a good one because there is one extreme difference. Pretty much anyone that truly wants to can serve in the military or can get the training needed to be a police officer or fireman. Only an extremely small percentage of the population has what it takes to play NFL football.

So while PE is right in saying there would be no shortage of people willing to signup to take on the risks associated with playing NFL football the percentage of those people actually skilled enough to do it is going to be tiny.

The bottom line in all of this is that the game of football isn't going away but it is clear that there are going to be some pretty substantial changes that take place in how the game is played over the next 10 years or so. If more and more NFL players start walking away from the game at young ages that will rapidly accelerate the pace of change.
Click to expand...

I think many would be surprised to truly know the amount of players who would walk away from the game if they were open and honest - and that isn't based on the concussion issue alone. It's based on the beating their bodies take and this: https://jeffnixonreport.wordpress.c...es-and-benefits-under-the-cba/comment-page-1/
 

Make million or more, injury free, walk away and enjoy it.
 

Make sure to say 'Hi' to Chris when he lives/works in the twincities and gets all his badger gear on for the badger Gopher games at TCF.
 

Borland's decision is his and his alone. He was a third round draft choice, and in his first year when Patrick Willis, and Navarro Bowman went down early in the year he was thrown in at Middle Linebacker and he threw himself into the role. He is generously 5'11" and 240, and he was injured late in the season. During the off season Willis Retired and the Middle Linebacker position was his. The prospect of more heroic pounding vs. the long term risk led to the retirement. But make no mistake either by draft or free agency the 49's will have a middle linebacker next year. This is not a trend, it is a decision.
 

husker70 said:
Borland's decision is his and his alone. He was a third round draft choice,

An argument could be made that CB signed a contract knowing he was quitting football but instead signed on and took the 1st year dough. just a theory.
Click to expand...
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom