Chris Borland, who sent shockwaves through the NFL with his retirement last week after one season with the San Francisco 49ers due to fears of future brain injuries, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning that he was giving back part of his signing bonus.
Borland, 24, made the comment after he was asked if he had any buyer’s remorse.
“Absolutely not. To play one year, it’s not a cash grab as I’ve been accused of. I’m paying back three-fourths of my signing bonus. I’m only taking the money I’ve earned,” he said.
“This to me is just about health and nothing else. I’ve never played the game for money or attention. I love football. I’ve had a blast and I don’t regret the last 10 years of my life at all. I’d do it over the exact same way. From here on I’m looking forward.”
Chris Borland apparently has more than his fair share of wisdom and integrity. Most young people don’t think that much about the future. Additionally, most have the tendency to take the money and run. Concussion injuries are very real and it appears that we find out more about them each passing day.
PBS.org relates:
As the NFL nears an end to its long-running legal battle over concussions, new data from the nation’s largest brain bank focused on traumatic brain injury has found evidence of a degenerative brain disease in 76 of the 79 former players it’s examined.
The findings represent a more than twofold increase in the number of cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, that have been reported by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ brain repository in Bedford, Mass.
Researchers there have now examined the brain tissue of 128 football players who, before their deaths, played the game professionally, semi-professionally, in college or in high school. Of that sample, 101 players, or just under 80 percent, tested positive for CTE.
To be sure, players represented in the data represent a skewed population. CTE can only be definitively identified posthumously, and many of the players who have donated their brains for research suspected that they may have had the disease while still alive. For example, former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson committed suicide in 2011 by shooting himself in the chest, reportedly to preserve his brain for examination.
Nonetheless, Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the brain bank, believes the findings suggest a clear link between football and traumatic brain injury.
In light of these findings, it begs the question why parents are even allowing students to play football. It also begs the question why our public school athletic programs mostly center around football.
I have my own personal questions about these injuries. My father was an athlete and played football in both high school and college. He also had the onset of what I would call personality disorder starting around age 40 or a little before. These outburst of temper and “bad disposition” were occasional at first and got progressively worse as he aged. My mother said she first noticed it after he had mono at age 36. Well, her recollection could have been faulty also. I just know that something changed. People of that generation didn’t seek psychological help either.
When the reports about football and CTE became more public, I perked up my ears. I always have looked for a reason why the neatest Daddy in the world turned into a volatile, unpredictable S.O.B. by the time I was 10 or 12. I tried to get my brothers interested but they thought I was being overly dramatic and made snickering comments about still the old psych major….
I am convinced he was a victim of CTE. The helmets worn by players in those days were not as protective as a good pair of leather shoes. It’s hard to imagine where the protection was in those limited pieces of equipment. Apparently protection really doesn’t prevent the head traumas anyway.
I have all the respect in the world for Chris Borland. Most people his age think they are invincible and immortal. He is looking ahead at his future. May the force be with him.
