49ers’ Chris Borland, Citing Safety, Is Latest to Retire Early From N.F.L.

[ErikJ]

Source: NYTimes

During the N.F.L. preseason last year, Chris Borland, a rookie linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, sent a letter to his parents in Ohio. He thanked them for their support and said that he was embarking on what was likely to be his final season playing football.

“We readily accepted it,” Jeff Borland, his father, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “It was a relief that after one more season he would no longer be taking the physical abuse. He kept his unpublished word that he gave the team everything he had. I was very proud of that.”

With his announcement Monday night that he is walking away from the sport because of concerns about his safety, Borland is now the most noteworthy case yet in an off-season like no other in the N.F.L. Young players, with many games and millions of dollars ahead of them, are turning away from the country’s most popular sport.

“Somebody said we’re at the beginning of the beginning, and that might be true,” Jeff Borland said regarding whether his son’s decision would influence parents of young football players.
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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/sports/football/49ers-linebacker-citing-injury-risk-joins-list-of-nfl-retirees.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[christx30]

1. Can't say I blame him one bit.

You only have one skull in your life. Nice to retire with it and your brain intact.

[ErikJ]

4. Wise indeed.

I wonder if he changed his mind in a couple yrs he could sign on again?

[KamaAina]

2. So many of our players are quitting

we may have to change the name to the Santa Clara Palins.

edit: Or they could always move the team to Bristol, TN.

[tularetom]

3. Gore, Willis and now Borland

Are there others? I confess I haven't being paying attention.

[AngryAmish]

5. PT Willis quit?

God did he suck.

[Auggie]

6. Willis and Borland retired. Justin Smith is still undecided ...

Gore, Iupati, Culliver, Cox, Skuta, and Crabtree are/will be lost to free agency.

Kassim Osgood, Brandon Lloyd, and Josh Johnson (Back-up QB) will probably not be re-signed.

Ray McDonald was fired. Stevie Johnson (WR) was released.

[Hawaii Hiker]

8. Perhaps Crabtree will stay, i havent heard any teams expressing interest

And I still am not sure if Navaro Bowman is ready to return...

They lost alot of players...Looks like that championship window is shut....All 3 playoff losses were tough to - NFC Championship against the Giants, Super Bowl against Ravens, then NFC Championship @Seattle...

[Auggie]

9. His receiving skills have shown to be average and he's developing a bad attitude.

He's poison. And he's gone.

[840high]

7. Smart.

[WestSeattle2]

10. Smart man. Calculated risk for a year, and retire. He - and

his family won something far more important than a Super Bowl.