Concern about neurological diseases led to end of career
The Average NFL career lasts 3.3 years, with 9.3 years for first round draft picks. One-in-three NFL players is to be affected by degenerative brain diseases as a result of brain trauma during their career. This sentence on its own was enough to convince first round draft pick, linebacker Chris Borland, that it’s time to hang his pads.
Borland, just 24-years-old, justified his reasoning during an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation. “I was concerned about neurological diseases down the road if I continued to play football, so I did a lot of research and gathered a lot of information, and to me the decision made sense.”
Walking away from millions of dollars is no easy task, it takes someone who is truly passionate about the game, not its wealth and fame ancillaries.
“This to me this is just about health and nothing else. I never played the game for money and attention. I love football and I’ve had a blast. I don’t regret the last 10 years of my life at all. I’d do it over the exact same way.”
Borland is repaying the league three quarters of his $617, 436 bonus, taking away only what he believes he earned.
There is a devastating truth to Borland’s story; football is no longer dangerous, it’s lethal. By luring these young men with million dollar contracts, public praise and a shot at the “Hall of Fame,” these young men destroy their brains day in and day out, only to discover years later that those years of gridiron glory had terrible consequence on their mental health, and their relationships with their loved ones. NFL players are required to make an immense decision in their early 20s: pursue their dreams, regardless of any physical and emotional tolls that may occur, or turn those dreams away in pursuit of a different lifestyle.
Due solely to the fundamentals of this matter, this was one of the more sagacious decision makings I have bare witnessed to have emerged out of the sports community. This young man walked away from millions of dollars, public worship, and a prominent career, to preserve his health for the future. He chose well-being and longevity over extravagance and a fulfilment. He chose humble pursuits over a short-lived high. The trade off here is clear: an NFL career sabotages a player’s future health so significantly that he ought to reconsider whether his few years in the NFL are worth the remainder of his lifetime.
The evidence for Borland’s decision isn’t exactly scarce, simply turn to YouTube and look up “NFL Big Hit Highlights,” and evidence will come pouring by the hundreds. These hits are graphic, gruesome, and, at times, even alarming. Players are hit at frightening velocities, at times left unconscious, bodies seized up and eyes rolled back.
James Harrison, Dashon Goldson, Ndamukong Suh, and Brandon Meriweather have been on the receiving end of this fight against concussions. They often reason their continued aggression with “I’m only playing the game the way it should be played.” The frightening facts about this sweeping phenomenon is the prevalence of prominent players who have taken their own lives, to later be diagnosed with degenerative brain diseases post-mortem. Junior Seau, who had an exceptional career as a linebacker, took his own life in 2012 – he was 43. Another tragic end was that of Javon Belcher, a former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker, whose 2012 murder of his girlfriend and subsequent suicide in front of team officials left the league and public utterly speechless.
In 2013, 4,500 former NFL players (or their estates) were listed as plaintiffs in lawsuits against the NFL for concussion-related injuries received while playing, on the grounds that their safety and health were neglected and consequently damaged irreversibly, with no medical or financial compensation granted. This list is, however, outdated and incomplete, the number is thought to be well over twice as much today.
The most abundant disease reported is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease which occurs when continuous trauma to the brain, be it repetitive mild hits or several powerful blows, results in abnormal brain function and the eventual death of nerve cells. Further research shows that 76 of 79 deceased NFL players who had been tested were diagnosed with CTE post-mortem. Dr. Ann Mckee is the director of neuropathology at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Bedford, Massachusetts. In her interview with PBS’s Frontline she said, “I can say, as a fan…as a neuroscientist, when I would look at the guys with those helmets, they looked indestructible. They looked invincible. I didn’t realize those hits were causing any problems. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it was causing problems.”
As Bordland proved last week, it is either your health or your ego. Borland clearly enjoyed playing football but unlike the majority of NFL players, he has a way out of football: his college degree – something that many football players tend to forego to pursue their athletic careers. Subsequently, they only have one choice: to play the game and to face the consequences later on in life.