49ers Chris Borland Retires... After 1 Season

[rodeo]

What's even worse is that you have to keep paying a player when they retire. The 49ers absolutely should not have to pay this guy another dime, it's bad enough he wasted a draft pick.

[top dawg]

I gotta respect him. It's kind of shocking. Seeing these young dudes leave the game makes me feel good about my own son who just doesn't want to play for that very reason.  Sure I had the dream of my 6'3" 220 lb 16-year-old of playing football, and I had a kind of "ooohkay" attitude about it, but seeing Borland just leave the game makes me realize that sometimes sons are wiser than their fathers.

[Khyber53]

And in a situation like this, you shouldn't really look at it as bailing out as a rookie. This was his first year of professional football, but most likely he's also had three to four years of college ball, four years of high school play and countless years of youth league games.

 

The wear and tear, the concussions, they've got to wear on the player. Or maybe he's just smart enough to realize that the one last bad hit is just around the corner for him.

 

Hate to see someone walk away so early in a career with so much money still on the table, but to look at how some of the guys who didn't walk turned out... I just can't blame him too much. And linebacker is probably the most contact heavy spot on the field.

 

[Jmac]

Unless they can find a way to engineer concussion proof helmets and gear, this may be heading towards flag football territory in the future. Walking around for the majority of your life with scrambled brains...is not very enticing.

[Donald LaFell]

Yeah the game might be in trouble if they can't solve these issues.

There's no way to solve the issues unless it becomes two hand touch. The physics of two bodies crashing together are impossible to overcome.

[Johnny Rockets]

What's even worse is that you have to keep paying a player when they retire. The 49ers absolutely should not have to pay this guy another dime, it's bad enough he wasted a draft pick.

 

 

Are you kidding me? I didn't know that. What is the logic behind that besides being a bargaining chip that was agreed upon for the players during CBA discussions?

[Lumps]

49er meltdown is so entertaining

http://www.49erswebzone.com/forum/niners/181801-chris-borland-to-retire/

[Anybodyhome]

What's even worse is that you have to keep paying a player when they retire. The 49ers absolutely should not have to pay this guy another dime, it's bad enough he wasted a draft pick.

 

In order to collect the NFL pension, I believe a minimum of 3 years in the league is a prerequisite.

 

Borland was a 3rd round pick, collected a $617k signing bonus and his salary last year was about the same amount, so it's not like he got rich off a signing bonus. The 49ers don't owe him another dime and because he retired, I'm sure there is no cap hit.

 

He's not getting paid by anyone for calling it quits. 

[gettlemanjack]

could've been worse. they still have iLB NaVorro Bowman, OLB Aldon Smith, OLB Aaron Lynch, OLB Corey Lemonier, FS Eric Reid, DT Darnell Dockett, DT Glenn Dorsey etc

[Harris Aballah]

One of the best rookies of the 2014 season has called it quits. Cites concerns over head injuries.

 

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/12496480/san-francisco-49ers-linebacker-chris-borland-retires-head-injury-concerns

 

Dude was a stud LB for the 49ers last season.

He says head injuries. But I bet he couldn't resist punching Krapperneck in the face during practices for another year

[Harris Aballah]

could've been worse. they still have iLB NaVorro Bowman, OLB Aldon Smith, OLB Aaron Lynch, OLB Corey Lemonier, FS Eric Reid, DT Darnell Dockett, DT Glenn Dorsey etc

Eric Reid's retired. He just doesn't know it yet. And the off-seasons pretty long. So there's still time for Aldon Smith to get arrested.

[gettlemanjack]

these appear to be the consensus Top 5 iLBs in the Draft. Not hard to imagine one going to San Francisco:

Benardrick McKinney, Mississippi State

Denzel Perryman, Miami

Stephone Anthony, Clemson

Eric Kendricks, UCLA

Paul Dawson, TCU

[WUnderhill]

I'm a big soccer fan, I won't lie, but there is a big reason we see a trend in soccer growing rapidly and football losing athletes consistently year to year and it makes me sad. I absolutely love football. But in 20 years many parents will push their kids towards a sport that doesn't involve constantly physical aggression with massive concussion risk. That's simply where it's all heading.

Even now, the popularity is skyrocketing. In NYCFC's season opener (MLS expansion team) they had more seats filled in Yankees stadium than in any Yankees game last year. It's trending very fast.

Soccer has brain damage issues as well. I remember a study a few years ago found a professional soccer player to have comparable brain damage to a professional boxer. It's more likely just America starting to catch up with the rest of the world in getting on the soccer train.

[tondi]

Its his life but why play football for free for probably 15 years just to quit when you are finally getting paid to do so. I get that he's trying to get out while he's ahead but the damage is already done at this point.