Via NBC News:
Chris Borland, a 24-year-old linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and one of the most promising rookies in the NFL last year, says he’s quitting the game because he doesn’t want to risk long-term brain injury.
“I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” he told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” on Monday. “From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”
It takes an extraordinary level of maturity for an athlete in his twenties to ponder what could go wrong physically when he’s older. Most people at that age feel indestructible, even couch potatoes.
As ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit stated on Twitter, this will probably reverberate with parents of kids playing, or considering, youth football.
All of the advancements in equipment and medical protocols for concussions won’t change the fact that football is a brutally violent game and the head injuries will always be there.
Until Roger Goodell bans tackling, of course.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member