I expect John Urschel has similar concerns.
Its something that has happened previously, for somewhat different reasons. Jon Frank, who was a 49ers tight end quit to go to back to Ohio State to medical school. There is an old SI article about him talking with Steve Young and saying that he didn’t like getting hit hard, which happened on every play in the NFL.
I think some of this depends on what the players alternatives are, and how good he expects to be, and for how long. Borland was apparently a somewhat marginal draft choice, and not ideally suited physically to his NFL position.
Football at the upper levels is demanding in a way that most people cannot possibly imagine. For some players there are easier, and in some cases, more preferred ways to make a living.
Also, linebackers deliver (and hence take) a lot more hits than a lot of people on the field. Violent hits are their job description. That is not true to that degree with every position on the field.
I’m surprised that it took so long to be honest.
I’m a die hard sports fan but I don’t think I’d let my children play football. Still too risky.
The sport is now paying for the horrendous behavior and attitudes of coaches in the not too distant past. I’m young enough to remember the days of coaches telling a high school player to just “walk it off,” regarding a concussion. Yeah, the science and attitudes are much better today but we all know that the risks at the pro (and likely college) level are great. I really don’t know how I would advise kids today, other than to remind them of the risks. Good coaching is what’s needed, but as long as money is the biggest incentive in pro (and major college) football, you will have team officials and players whom will take the risk.
As for Borland, he sounds like a bright guy whom will be successful in whatever new endeavor he chooses.
When I was coaching tee ball, a player’s dad had a long NFL career. He walked with a cane and could only throw underhand. 40 years old, barely mobile and constant pain is not a future I would want for my boys.
Another story: my wife went to a medical conference last year and she sat near a sports med physician. A father brought in his 18 year-old son, suffering from multiple nagging injuries, wondering how to duct tape him well enough to report to his D1 football freshman year. The boy showed long term damage from repeated concussions and from years of steroid abuse. According to the dad, “his son” dreamed of playing in the NFL , so quitting football (or steroids) was off the table.
@Magnetron…that’s horrific.
@dadx, it sounds to me as if you are intimating that this particular player just isn’t tough enough to “take it.” Doesn’t that dodge the increasingly dire evidence about what happens to many, if not most, of those who DO take it?
One thing that concerns me is that the only people who will end up playing in the positions where hits are common are those who have no really decent life alternatives. Which, from what I can tell, is already true in boxing.
I 100% firmly believe that ALL student athletes should be undergoing routine physical and mental/neurological tests. The rougher the sport, the higher frequency that these should be occuring. The once a year sports physical is NOT enough.
They should be conducted with no parents in the room and should be thorough. Players should have to give a clean bill of health every X months before they are allowed to get their butts off the bench.
Too many parents and coaches do not give a hoot about what happens to their kids a decade or so down the line. It’s sad but it’s the reality. Further, too many dads (especially) remember the “good 'ole days” when boys were TUFF and could just walk it off. 8-|
I had two concussions playing soccer and both times I was convinced that I would get up and play again. The idea of letting players have any input on their fitness to play is ridiculous. Both times kicked in the head playing goalkeeper. Now that I think about it maybe THAT’S what’s wrong with Hope Solo.
Whenever the NFL institutes rules intended to protect the players, I see the fans (mostly the male ones) arguing heatedly against them. “Football isn’t for sissies,” “Wuss mentality attempting to turn football into a chess game,” etc.
The fact of the matter is that if the NFL is going to be held accountable for player injuries in lawsuits and other policies, then they have no choice but to change the way the game is played.
Helmets can help to prevent skull injuries, but these brutal hits being made over and over and over are not mitigated by helmets much of the time, because damage is done on the inside of the skull with the brain being batted around inside. I can totally understand a person deciding to make the choice between his health and intellect and the game.
DH worked a charity event with a former professional football player. He came home and said, “That guy is not right. Man, I’m glad I peaked in grade school.”
Absolutely, nrdsb4.
Not football related but my dad played hockey for many years. Some of the guys that played were just absolutely messed up. My dad knew many of them from elementary school and has no doubt that their personalities were irrevocably changed (for the worse) due to multiple blows to the head… and hockey (IMO) isn’t nearly as bad as football.
If I had known then what I know now, there is NO WAY IN HELL my son would have played football for 14 years—often on both the offensive and defensive lines for virtually every play of the game. I’m sure it played a role in his death. Allowing my son to start football in grade school and continue in high school and college is the one thing in my life that I will regret to my dying day. It was also the thing that he loved to do most.
As a note, it would be helpful when starting a thread if you put a sentence or two describing the link. That way, for example, people who already know the story won’t waste time clicking an extraneous link.
All sports take a huge toll on the body. My kid was seriously injured dancing, as all dancers are at some point. If you want to play, there’s a cost and each person has to weigh the rewards. But head injuries are a different thing.
BTW, I don’t see this changing for two reasons rarely brought up: playing sports is fun and being a jock - speaking of guys, of course - gets you girls. Getting girls is up there as one of the largest incentives in human nature. If you look at the careers of NHL enforcers, for example, they needed to fight to make the league so the reward was worth the risk to them and then they enjoyed the adulation, even if it came with personality changes leading to substance abuse, depression, etc. I’m not saying people are good at evaluating long-term risk/rewards, but rather that people make these decisions when they’re young and they place higher value on what they get now. That can be money or sex or fame (even local), often a combination of the three. And these decisions occur when young because that’s when we’re best at sports. We can see that effect in the so-called Veterans Combine run for players trying to get back into the league: look at the 40 times. We’re talking guys who may be 30 but they’ve lost a half second and, as one said, that means the end of the career.
@EllieMom, I’m so sorry for your loss.
@EllieMom I am so, so sorry.
I’m so sorry @EllieMom
Don’t beat yourself up. No one thought about these things and certainly not for younger people. As I remember, there was always talk about how hard the NFL was on backs, knees, hips, etc. but nothing else. You can’t go back in time and know what wasn’t known then.
My dad’s birthday is coming up. He smoked and that killed him because he had a heart defect he couldn’t have known about until he got sick. Didn’t know. He knew smoking was stupid but it was the chance combination. It just was.
Coincidentally, I attended a concerned citizen’s meeting tonight hosted by one of my state representatives - it was held in a hospital because the topic at hand was issues facing health care today - she wanted to learn from her constituents what issues they face in providing and receiving care. Interesting group.
Anyway, she started the meeting by going through a list of legislation she has sponsored recently, and one of them was a very unpopular (initially) bill to limit the amount of hard-hitting in practices and off-season, that takes place in football leagues across the state, recreation leagues, as well as high school leagues. Again, it was initially very unpopular, and she didn’t get anywhere the first year, but she broached it again (she was encouraged to sponsor this bill by her neurologist who treats her for migraines) and compromised with the Illinois High School Sports Association and coaches lobby to come up with some key restrictions that they could all agree on. One of the requirements is that no one can coach any team in Illinois without getting certified through training and a test on concussive prevention and injury symptoms. She said the biggest hurdle they had to overcome was educating people that people don’t necessarily have to lose consciousness to be diagnosed with a concussion. The coaches are also required to show a video to all their players on the dangers of concussions and concussive syndrome. So they’ve made some progress, but it will take some time I’m sure before they see if it has the intended consequence of not sending kids back in to play before full recovery has taken place.
Thank you for your kind thoughts, and I apologize for bringing my son’s condition up in this context. But this is something that I feel very strongly about. I was brought up in a football family—my father was a football coach, my husband played football in high school, my nephew played pro ball. My son was a natural football player. But he wouldn’t have played if I had known that he was putting his life in danger with every hit. If you blow out a knee or injure an ankle, you may have limited mobility but you’re still you. When you destroy your brain bit by bit, you become someone different than who you were meant to be.
I think part of the problem for football players, especially linemen, is that CTE brain injuries are additive. A lot of the damage can be done by repeated subconcussive trauma, something that kids as young as seven-years-old are experiencing on a daily basis, especially if they play a line position. My son never had a diagnosed concussion. But he spent at least an hour a day five-to-six months a year for 14 years ramming his head against other players, tackling dummies, and blocking sleds.