Ask any NFL general manager for one player that they regret not selecting in the 2014 NFL Draft, and you’ll hear the name Chris Borland. In his rookie year, the third round pick from Wisconsin starred in the absence of Patrick Willis, whose recent retirement seemed to position Borland for a decade of stardom at the heart of San Francisco’s defense. Late Tuesday, Chris Borland retired from professional football at 24.
In an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Borland revealed that he feared the long-term health risks involved with playing in the NFL. “I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” Borland said. “From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”
Borland is not referring to swollen knees and sore backs, he is referring to the progressive degenerative brain disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE. This condition expedites the rapid degeneration of brain tissue and features an abnormal buildup of the “tau” protein, leading to memory loss, cognitive disfunction, confusion, aggression, a lack of impulse control and ultimately, dementia. This was more commonly known as “punch drunk” in early boxers. Recently, researchers have also begun to investigate the relationship between brain trauma in football and ALS.
Through the 1990’s, the NFL wholeheartedly denied any relation between concussions and the symptoms of CTE later in player’s lives. Committees were formed by the league to conduct research into the matter, but have since been exposed as puppet groups run by those with the interest of the NFL’s image at heart. Between 2002 and 2005, however, Pittsburgh medical examiner Bennet Omalu diagnosed CTE in the brains of two former Pittsburgh Steelers. His research was publicly challenged by the NFL, who demanded the retraction of his work from peer-reviewed medical journals.
Although Omalu was pushed with aggression from the national scientific stage, his findings marked a chilling beginning. The awakening of the conversation on brain trauma in football led to the work of Dr. Ann McKee, who in 2009, founded The Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University. Both McKee and Omalu were featured prominently in CBS Frontline’s documentary “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis”, which is necessary viewing.
Dr. McKee’s objective in her research was to study the brains of deceased NFL players, which have become more accessible in recent years as the NFL’s veil of secrecy has fallen, and the players are being exposed to the real dangers of their occupation. According to an update from September 30th, 2014, 76 of the 79 brains from deceased NFL players studied by Dr. McKee’s team tested positive for CTE.
The sample size in this instance must be looked at critically, as Dr. McKee only receives the brains of deceased NFL players. This does increase the likelihood of her encountering brains with CTE, but nonetheless, the results of her study are incredibly alarming. How can the NFL, one of the world’s most powerful organizations, continue to stand upon the shoulders of their players as the majority of them experience degenerative brain damage. Not one percent, not a handful from decades ago. The majority.
Chris Borland’s decision comes a week after the retirements of 30-year old Patrick Willis and 26-year old Jake Locker, both of whom left money on the table to walk away from professional football. Their retirements raised the question of the direction of the NFL, but Borland’s decision to walk away at 24 signals what I see to be the early stages of a tipping point that will forever change the league.
Former NFL players with brain injuries that lead to disabilities later in life are no longer a one-day newspaper story. These players are now exposed through modern media, and current NFL players are watching in real time as the athletes they grew up worshipping struggle to speak. As they spiral into drugs and alcohol. As they become unrecognizable shells. As they kill themselves.
On February 17th, 2011, Dave Duerson was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest at age 50. He had sent a message to his family prior to pulling the trigger, asking that they donate his brain to Boston University for CTE research. Duerson’s brain was diagnosed with CTE.
Just one year later on May 2nd, 2012, Junior Seau was found dead in his home, also from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Seau was 43 years old and had seen his life crumble after retiring as one of the greatest players of his generation. Seau’s brain was diagnosed with CTE.
Later that same year, tragedy struck in the form of Jovan Belcher, the 25-year old Kansas City Chiefs linebacker. Belcher shot and killed his then-girlfriend, and mother of his 3-month old child. Belcher then drove to the Chiefs facility, where he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in front of members of the Kansas City coaching staff. Belcher’s brain was diagnosed with CTE.
The list goes on without mercy and seemingly without end. When one steps back from the magnitude of the NFL and truly attempts to digest what the game has caused in the lives of those who have built it, it’s staggering. Chris Borland is one of the first players to take this to the point of early retirement, and I believe that he’ll be joined by many others in the coming years.
This may not lead to the ultimate demise of the NFL, perhaps nothing will, but the league that we know in this very moment will not be the league we know in ten, twelve years. Around North America, mothers and fathers are holding the next Barry Sanders, the next Tom Brady, out of youth football. They are right in doing so.
The events of the past few years have finally removed the glorification of the NFL’s gladiator mentality. While many players remain entrenched in the ideology that they will sacrifice their bodies to the game and deal with the consequences later, that number is shrinking. Those players are no longer viewed as old-school or heroic, they are viewed with discomfort, with a knowing fear. The end to which playing in the NFL is a means has begun to rapidly gain clarity. A blurred, slurred, tragic clarity.
The Backup Punter 