Matt Chatham: NFL Media Taking Chris Borland’s Retirement Out Of Context

Chris Borland sent shockwaves through the NFL world Monday when he announced his retirement from the San Francisco 49ers at age 24, citing concerns about concussions and maintaining his long-term health.

In the days following Borland’s retirement, nearly everyone has weighed in. Some have applauded him for making a difficult decision, while others have called him a “quitter.” That wide range of opinions can be expected in today’s age, but as former NFL player Matt Chatham points out, that’s not the real issue.

Many members of the NFL media have taken to lumping Borland’s retirement into a growing trend of NFL players retiring early for fear of brain and concussion issues, from the 30-year-old Patrick Willis to the 27-year-old Jason Worilds to the 26-year-old Jake Locker.

As Chatham points out on FootballByFootball.com, however, all four players retired for different reasons, and Borland was the only player who actually pointed to “the risk of brain trauma” as his cause for stepping away. Rather than highlight this fact, Chatham says, NFL media members lump everything together to create a convenient narrative.

“But that’s not for the reader to know,” Chatham writes. “There’s an impending doom narrative that has to run through this story. A ‘cluster of young NFL players are hanging up their cleats’ and there’s absolutely nothing connecting their decisions would be a really inconvenient lede.”