Many More Will Follow Chris Borland
By Ken Reed
Chris Borland has walked away from the NFL after an excellent rookie season with the San Francisco 49’ers. The reason? Concerns about brain trauma.
He wasn’t the first. Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sydney Rice and offensive lineman Jacob Bell of the Cincinnati Bengals walked away from the game prematurely, citing concerns about concussions and brain damage.
Borland was scheduled to make more than a half-million dollars in 2015 playing football. But he didn’t think that was worth risking his long-term health.
“I just honestly want to do what’s best for my health,” Borland told ESPN’s Outside the Lines.
“From what I’ve researched and what I’ve experienced, I don’t think it’s worth the risk … I just thought to myself, ‘What am I doing? Is this how I’m going to live my adult life, banging my head, especially with what I’ve learned and know about the dangers?'”
What Borland did takes courage. Not so much because of the money he left behind, but because of the macho man culture he’s leaving. Being fearless, playing with pain, etc., are all part of the NFL culture … the football culture really, as the “just suck it up” attitude permeates high school and youth league football as well. Pulling away from that kind of mindset, especially at age 24, certainly couldn’t have been easy for Borland.
“It shows the macho culture of ‘destroy yourself for the game’ is losing its grip, that it’s no longer cool to question people’s toughness,” said Chris Nowinski, an expert on sports concussions who’s associated with Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. “That represent a big shift in thinking.”
Borland leaving a promising NFL career behind, and openly saying the reason for the move was his concern about the implications of constantly banging his head (it’s not just concussions, repetitive sub-concussive hits take their toll too), might make it easier for other players — at all levels of the game — to make the same decision.
“Obviously, guys will continue to play football,” tweeted ESPN football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. “But I guarantee the Borland early retirement gets the attention of a lot of moms and youth football.”
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
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Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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