Chris Borland walks away from football

[Dick Whitman]

49ers linebacker, rookie last year and a third-round draft pick, concerned about his long-term health:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/s...t-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

You have to wonder if a lot of guys with other options for their futures are going to be doing the same. One-year money grab. See what it's like to play in the NFL. Go put on a suit now.

 

[Ace]

This is what could really put a dent in the league. But then history has shown that there is no shortage of folks willing to take the chance at money and fame -- consequences be damned.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I don't think this was something he planned to do. It's not like he's walking away with the money that Patrick Willis and Jake Locker and Jason Worilds did.

 

[JackReacher]

I thought I read that he's been thinking about it for a good while.

 

[da man]

49ers linebacker, rookie last year and a third-round draft pick, concerned about his long-term health:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/s...t-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

You have to wonder if a lot of guys with other options for their futures are going to be doing the same. One-year money grab. See what it's like to play in the NFL. Go put on a suit now.

Wonder what the percentage is of NFL players (or any professional athletes, really) who have viable "other options" after their first year as a pro.

What's the college graduation rate for NFL players?

That's a legitimate question, by the way, not a shot. I really have no idea what it is.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Wonder what the percentage is of NFL players (or any professional athletes, really) who have viable "other options" after their first year as a pro.

What's the college graduation rate for NFL players?

That's a legitimate question, by the way, not a shot. I really have no idea what it is.

I bet the graduation rate is pretty high - 50 percent?

A lot of others are probably a year or so away, or a semester because they were Combine prepping.

And I suspect a lot of them have other options. I rarely talked to a former player at the school I covered who didn't have people tripping over themselves to give him a gig leveraging his name to sell loans or some other business job.

I knew a guy in law school who was a walk-on at Notre Dame. He said it was the first question in every single interview he had with a firm. He's at one of those New York firms now that pay annual bonuses equal to 10 years of a sports writer's salary.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I thought I read that he's been thinking about it for a good while.

I meant before he was drafted. Was there something that said he thought about quitting before then?

 

[JackReacher]

Hm. I can't remember, to be honest. It definitely didn't sound like it was A) something he decided two days ago or B) a **** you to the 49ers.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

I just wonder if he got scanned at the end of the season and saw something that scared him.

Or if you believe the 49ers sites... Maybe he saw what a dip**** his new coach is and said, "Screw you, I'm walking away from this **** team."

 

[Ruben Rivas]

Playing sports is fun untill you spend 2 years in the training room after all the beating your body takes.

Pele wanted to quit at one point, FIFA had to change the game of soccer so Maradona and Gonzalez didnt have a broken leg every game.

At one point in college, I was taking 3 Ibufrofens everyday before practice, that cant be healthy..

 

[JackReacher]

Chris Borland's father: Family backed LB's choice to retire from 49ers after one year | FOX Sports

"But before his rookie season even began, Borland had told his family it might be his one and only year in the NFL."

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Chris Borland's father: Family backed LB's choice to retire from 49ers after one year | FOX Sports

"But before his rookie season even began, Borland had told his family it might be his one and only year in the NFL."

Wow. I wish he mentioned that at the combine.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Who cares? He gave them a year of great football.

Players should get whatever they can, whenever they can, and get out when they can.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Yeah, but you don't use a third-round pick for a year of great football.

 

[Liut]

Players should get whatever they can, whenever they can, and get out when they can.

+1

 

[JC]

Yeah, but you don't use a third-round pick for a year of great football.

Too bad, they would have cut him if he wasn't great at football.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Yeah, but you don't use a third-round pick for a year of great football.

Third-round picks have been cut before their rookie year before. Should the NFL have to pay those guys for a second and third and fourth year?

**** the NFL and its belief that it is entitled to ruin these guys with the same one-way system as always.

 

[Ruben Rivas]

Yeah, but you don't use a third-round pick for a year of great football.

They should be forced to work because someone will lose money, awesome.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I'm not saying Borland did anything wrong. I'm just saying that he wouldn't have been drafted in the third round had teams known this ahead of time.

 

[Dick Whitman]

They should be forced to work because someone will lose money, awesome.

Who said that?