The shocking -- SHOCKING -- retirement of San Fran 49ers linebacker Chris Borland at the tender young age of 24 has certainly been big news. Well OK. Maybe it's not that shocking. After all, he's just a football player and guys are standing in line to take his place. A year from now, nobody will likely remember this.
The odds of a young man making it to the NFL are long indeed. First, he has to be good enough to play varsity football in high school. Then he has to be amongst the best at that level to attract the attention of colleges. Then he has to prove he's an elite player at THAT level for pro teams to even give him a look.
True, even the pros with all their scouts, film, combines, and highly paid "experts" don't always get it right. Tom Brady was merely a 6th round draft pick, but few would doubt he's worked out rather well for the Patriots. On the other hand, there have been many Top 5 overall selections that went bust. So it has been, and will always be a crap shoot.
Chris Borland was one of those "in-between" guys. Sure, he was an all-around stud in high school in Ohio. First team All-Stater. Considering the football factory that is the Buckeye state, this was impressive stuff. But upon graduation Borland was only ranked the #55 prospect at linebacker nationally. The scholarship offers didn't exactly pour in. He chose Wisconsin over Iowa and Louisville.
While in Badgerland, he was once again a stand-out player, but never made "cream of the crop" status. Borland was in the running for several awards, but pretty much was an also-ran at the highest levels.
Come NFL draft time, he was a modest 3rd round pick of the 49ers, having been taken 77th overall. Still, he had made it, and being a 3rd round draft choice in the NFL is nothing to scoff at. Countless thousands of prep stars around the country would consider this a dream come true. Alas, the vast majority of them will never make it.
Chris Borland not only made it, but became a terrific player in his rookie year. After All-Pro Patrick Willis went out with an injury, Borland got his first taste of being a starter midway through the season. And, oh my, did he perform. Over 100 tackles, a couple interceptions, and an all-around defensive force all over the field. People around the NFL sat up and took notice of young Borland. Rookie or not, he was the real deal. The sky was the limit for this guy in the future.
As we know, Borland just opted for a very early retirement to his NFL career. There are those that wonder -- "What the hell is he doing? All that work and all that money to be made and he walks away? Is he nuts?" A few ex-jocks have come out and said they would still play today if they could. Such was and is their passion for the game, and to each their own. Perhaps they need to listen to John Fogerty's classic song Fortunate Son. Because they were fortunate indeed to come out of NFL careers with their brains and bodies fairly well intact. A lot of people don't. Fogerty and CCR's protest song about how poor boys were forced to fight a rich man's war in Viet Nam because they weren't exempt as "fortunate sons" born into affluence could be applied to the old timers that played long and prospered in the NFL. They survived. But the game is harder, faster, and more brutal than ever. The NFL can give all the lip service they want to "making players safer" through rules changes and better equipment, but there will be many casualties, sometimes severe.
So even though Chris Borland is only 24 years old, and has played but one season in the NFL, evidently he took stock of what the future might -- or might not -- hold for him. Sure, he was a rising star, amongst the best linebackers in the NFL. Perhaps All-Pro teams, Super Bowls, and even induction into the Hall of Fame in Canton could be achieved. That, and countless millions of dollars in future contracts and endorsements.
But it might just be that Borland, who by all estimations is a very bright young man, saw a few Dickensish ghosts of football players long past.
Guard Mike Utley that wound up a quadraplegic on a routine play.
Same for the late Darryl Stingley after a hard hit became a tragedy.
Countless former players that can barely walk by the time they're 50.
Or perhaps a few more recent ghosts paid Borland a visit in his dreams.
Maybe Kenny McKinley, who killed himself in 2010 after 2 major knee surgeries in 8 months came-a-calling.
Or Dave Duerson, who shot himself in the chest in 2011 so his brain could he analyzed after his suicide. He was 50.
More recently Junior Seau did much the same thing at the age of 43.
Jovan Belcher, only 22, killed his girlfriend and then himself in a murder-suicide. His brain was later found to be damaged, likely by too many hits to the head.
Borland himself said he was aware of the tragic story of longtime center Mike Webster. Webster won Super Bowls with the Steelers in the 70s and is in the Hall of Fame. But in his 40s he started exhibiting strange behavior, which was later diagnosed as amnesia, dementia, and depression. In 1999, at the age of 47, he was found to have severe brain damage from what amounted to "25,000 car crashes" while being a football player. Snap the ball, get hit -- over and over again -- game after game and year after year. Webster would wind up getting popped for forging prescriptions for Ritalin the same year. Originally, his cause of death in 2002 was listed as heart failure, but that was later recanted and his family had him cremated and his medical records sealed. He only lived to be 50.
A very sad and scary story indeed for Borland to mull around in his mind. One never knows what the future may hold in store for an NFL player that absorbs a lot of contact doing his job. It could be fabulous riches and fame, or it could be major disability and/or total disaster at a relatively young age. Again, it's a crap shoot, even for the best of players.
Was Borland rich when he walked away after only one year? Depends on how one looks at it. With his rookie contract as a third round pick, he got a signing bonus of around $617,000. His base salary was roughly $420,000. So basically Borland got a million and change for one year's work.
A lot of ordinary working folks will never make that much money in their entire lifetimes so, in that respect, it's a lot of money.
Given his 4-year rookie contract, he stood to make almost $3 million over the duration. Had he stayed healthy and productive, Borland would have been a free-agent after three more years. That's potential mega-money land for a guy that would be 27 entering the window that blends experience with peak physical ability.
But riches come in different forms for different people. Contrary to many athletes that would sell their souls to the highest bidder for a few million more bucks they don't need, as has been evident in pro sports since free agency became a reality, quality of life isn't always defined by obscene amounts of money, posses, and stupid endorsements for even MORE dough. As opposed to 20 that they can't possibly use, one would think a house with 7 or 8 bedrooms would more than suffice. And what's with these guys that need 14 bathrooms? Do they consider it a sign of success that they only have to take a leak or a dump in the same room twice a month? Trust me, the toilets don't know and don't care. Fools with too many dollars and not enough sense.
To his credit, young Chris Borland took all this into account and came to a decision. He not only made it into the NFL, but excelled at that level.
So he took his million bucks and walked away at age 24. What he will do with the rest of his life is anybody's guess, but yours truly would guess somebody with his sense of purpose definitely has a plan. He likely doesn't have to worry about getting a knee blown out, becoming paralyzed, or somebody dissecting his brain when he's 50, to see what went so horribly wrong.
As the late Spock would have said, may he live long and prosper.
Bravo, Chris Borland. What you just did showed tremendous courage and wisdom far beyond your years. Hopefully others will take note and follow in your footsteps before it's too late for them like some of the others mentioned above.
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