The beginning of the NFL offseason: a time for many players to mull over their futures in the league. While players approaching the prime of their careers are signing contract extensions or testing the free agent market, many older veterans are choosing to end their careers. Usually, starting-caliber players will stay in the league into their mid-30s. However, the past couple of seasons have experienced a trend toward player retirment an earlier age.
Many players retire after an obvious decline in their abilities. Now, more than ever, younger players are competing right away for starting jobs. In other words, usually the writing is on the wall. For example, Troy Polamalu, the once dominant playmaking safety, retired after showing he was a liability on a struggling Steelers defense. Many believe that we have seen the last of legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, who, despite winning a Super Bowl behind an unstoppable defense, turned in the worst passing rating among all quarterbacks who qualified in the 2015 season. However, more and more, recent retirements have not fit into this mold of a steep decline.
Patrick Willis, a five time first-team All-Pro linebacker, retired last March after just eight years in the league. Marshawn Lynch, the iconic Seahawks running back, retired just a year after one of his finest seasons, where he helped carry the Seahawks to another Super Bowl appearance. Quarterback Jake Locker and pass-rusher Jason Worilds, two coveted free agents, called it quits at age 27. And now, Calvin Johnson is drawing comparisons to Barry Sanders as possibly another Detroit Lion to hang up his cleats in his prime years.
However, none of these cases is more interesting than that of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland. As a rookie, Borland totaled a whopping 108 tackles in just eight games, filling in for the injured All-Pro Navarro Bowman. Although he was placed on season-ending injured reserve for an ankle injury, he was hailed as one of the best young players in the league and was a bright spot on an otherwise unimpressive 49ers squad.
Then, in the offseason, the 24-year old shocked the league by announcing his retirement, giving up almost a half of a million dollars in bonuses. He cited concern of head injuries as the reason, arguing that football was not worth the risk. He brought up the stories of NFL greats Mike Webster, Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, who were diagnosed with the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after their deaths.
These announcements have only added to the scrutiny that the NFL has encountered in the recent years regarding player safety and concussion concerns. In 2012, Hall-of-Fame linebacker Junior Seau’s suicide prompted concerns of a correlation between concussions and player deaths. A research project done by Boston University and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs displayed this correlation as well as the prevalence of CTE. Of the 91 former players who donated their brains for research after death, 87 tested positive for CTE, according to the IB Times. The disease can cause aggression, depression and loss of memory and motor skills.
Last year, the NFL reached a settlement of almost $1 billion with thousands of former players in response to the research done on concussions. This settlement was met with much scrutiny and criticism; split between 5,000 players, it did not adequately cover their medical care and other costs.
Despite concerns regarding these long-term and potentially life-threatening injuries, the conversation around these topics is relatively new. The NFL has taken measures to improve player safety within the past few years, fining and suspending players for helmet-to-helmet hits and other personal fouls. However, season-ending injuries, including ACL tears, have only kept increasing.
Given all of these facts and figures, it’s not surprising that more and more players are deciding to walk away, rather than risk ending their careers with an injury. Injuries can occur on any snap of any game; staying in the league only increases the likelihood that one of these damaging injuries will occur.
With players more informed than ever on these issues, it will be interesting to see if younger players in their prime will reconsider staying in the NFL for a long time. After all, we have to remember that NFL players are people, with many years to live after their football careers end. Although the hope is that fewer players will be affected by these injuries down the line, only time will tell if this trend can improve the lives of players after they’ve played their last down. •
