The Future of Football

With the NFL's offseason in full swing, a lot of crazy stuff has been happening. We've been documenting it over on UKEndzone. Between podcasts and articles, you can keep up with just about everything going on. Yet with the new discussions going on this week, I feel compelled to address what everyone else is talking about.

On Monday, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland shocked the world by announcing his retirement. He had just finished a rookie year where he played all but the final two games, and still racked up 84 solo tackles, a sack, five pass deflections, two picks and a fumble recovery. He earned my vote for Defensive Rookie of the Year, which helped him place fourth in UKEndzone's voting.

Screenshot from overthecap.com.

He was in line to replace Patrick Willis at middle linebacker for a 49er team that was falling apart. He was on a pace to make about $3 million over the course of his rookie deal, and made about $600,000 in that one year. He'll have to return some of that with his retirement, but he commented that it's not about the money. To him, it's all about his health and being able to spend time with his family. I'm sure it was a tough decision to make, and I commend him for it.

Of course, the meatheads came out in full force after the fact. One major rule of the Internet is "Don't read the comments," though I do anyway because some of them are amusing. Of course, you had the obligatory "Borland is a quitter," "The pussification of America continues," "You're screwing over your team," comments, all of which are easily refutable and I won't waste my time doing so here. The alarming thing, however, comes from some professionals. SI's Michael Rosenberg penned a piece that boggles the mind (I linked to a tweet and not the article, because I refuse to give SI ad revenue for clicks to asinine content), and then, not to be outdone, an NFL shill came out to respond to Borland's appearance on Outside the Lines today.

Here's the thing: riding a bike or a skateboard can cause harm, yes. So can youth football. Concussion protocol has improved in the NFL, and by extension, at the NCAA, high school, and even youth levels. Problem is, it's not just concussions. All those little hits to the head add up over time. As more research has been done, it comes out that changes have needed to be made, but none of that disputes the fact that yes, football can be dangerous, even if it is "safer than ever before."

Photo by Patrick Kunzer (Daily Herald)

Don't get me wrong: I love football. I have since I was a kid. It wouldn't have comprised just less than 50 percent of the posts on Confessions of a Sportscaster (a total of 218, unless I missed some way back when before I started tagging these posts) if I didn't. I enjoy throwing the ball around with friends and using my height and reach (which gave me the nickname Rodan) to play decent defense. Before I started high school, I got a call from then-Aurora Christian head coach Oz Price about joining the football team. I remember telling him that I would think about it. I told my mom, who was in the room at the time, about the call. She told me there was no way I was playing football. I don't blame her; I was 5'11" or so and about 120 pounds soaking wet at the time. I probably would have gotten hurt, and this was before the concussion issues really started to come to light. I look back and kind of wonder, "What if?" sometimes, but I don't think missing out on playing football hurt me any.

That said, I do wonder about the future of the NFL and football in general. For right now, it seems like it's too big to fail. The NFL brings in billions of dollars of revenue a year. There are millions of kids who play high school football every fall in the hopes of playing in college, then thousands who play in college in hopes of making it to the elite level of the NFL. The success rate of those high schools kids isn't very high, but their chances of getting hurt remain. Positive steps have been taken with regards to injuries, but even so, there will be parents who will be like mine and refuse to let their sons participate in football because there are and always will be risks. It's possible that down the line, I will be one of those parents as well.

For all we know, the NFL will continue on as it has been and continue to grow in popularity, and the lower levels will also get along just fine. Even if they do, the NFL needs to take a better approach than by just saying, "Oh, the game is safer than it's ever been!" Many of their decisions prioritize "protecting the shield" over protecting its players and alumni. Being willing to come further forward than they have and taking increased steps for player safety (say, working with helmet developers or more closely with neurologists while also being open minded about head injuries) will go a long way towards maintaining the integrity of the shield.