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I have full respect for Borland's decision to retire to protect his health.
There was an article in the Wash Post about his decision being the beginning of the end in the NFL amid Patrick Willis and Jake Locker retiring at early ages too. 4 guys retiring out of 1700+ players in the NFL is not the beginning of the end for football. The NFL will never run out of guys willing to risk their bodies for millions of dollars.
Don't forget the thousands more who played college football and couldn't make it to the pros. Talk of the NFL dying is hilariously unfounded. How many people play high school football in this country?
Finding enough people to fill out NFL rosters will never be a problem. The issue is what happens to the quality of the talent who take the risk to play? If you're an elite athlete and you have a reasonable shot at going pro in football or baseball, which are you going to choose? Increasingly the best athletes in this country are going to choose other sports. Increasingly parents are going to steer their children away from sports with high rates of concussion and toward sports like soccer and basketball (though ironically one of the only two diagnosed concussions of Borland's life occurred while playing youth soccer).
The NFL will survive, but it's beginning to look more and more like the caliber of players involved will take a severe nose dive in the generations to come unless significant medical advances are made.
As a 49er fan, while I am a bit shocked by the mass exodus, I do think its premature to throw in the white flag. The 49ers are still loaded with talent. They actually improved at WR by signing Torrey Smith....big upgrade from Michael Crabtree. Gore was very talented, but he's 32 years old and they have been grooming Hyde for a while as his replacement. With strong receivers, running backs and if Vernon Davis turns out his typical strong season (last season was a fluke), their offense cannot do anything but improve.
I think they can replace their corners with as good or better talent fairly easily.
Borland was indeed a rising star, but lets not forget that Willis was injured most of the year and Bowman was out the entire year. They can pretty easily draft another strong LB and be better than they were last year.
On paper, I actually think they're better than they were last year. Heck, its pretty tough not to be. Now, the issue of chemistry could come into play, along with Kaep's maturity and that'll be telling early this season.
On the other hand, let's not pretend that Seattle has this on lockdown. Yes, they signed Jimmy Graham. However, they had to give up their pro-bowl center in the process. Let's see if Wilson is still as effective with a weakened offensive line. Also, let's see if Graham looks as good with Wilson as he did under one of the top 2-3 QB's in the league, while in NO.
I'm not saying that Seattle won't be tough. They're always a contender. However, I think its going to be a lot closer in the NFC West then expected and the Niners will be a playoff threat at the very least.
That's an awful lot of if and buts. It was really kind of shocking how bad their O was last season considering most players were healthy. Their D had lots of injuries, but was still among the league's best.
I think losing Iupati and Skuta will be pretty significant. I know you're a fan, so I'll cut you some slack, but I think you're being overly optimistic about their chances. I agree about Kaep: he's a major x factor, but his performance last season isn't very encouraging.
Since Unger has had so many injury issues the last two seasons I'm hopeful it won't be much of a loss for the Seahawks. That said, you're right, their most glaring weakness continues to be their OL. Their WRs aren't great either, but Graham makes that less of a concern.
If the Seahawks can somehow put together a decent OL they could be scary, but we'll see...
That's an awful lot of if and buts. It was really kind of shocking how bad their O was last season considering most players were healthy. Their D had lots of injuries, but was still among the league's best.
I think losing Iupati and Skuta will be pretty significant. I know you're a fan, so I'll cut you some slack, but I think you're being overly optimistic about their chances. I agree about Kaep: he's a major x factor, but his performance last season isn't very encouraging.
Since Unger has had so many injury issues the last two seasons I'm hopeful it won't be much of a loss for the Seahawks. That said, you're right, their most glaring weakness continues to be their OL. Their WRs aren't great either, but Graham makes that less of a concern.
If the Seahawks can somehow put together a decent OL they could be scary, but we'll see...
I think that last season, it was a combination of injuries, off field issues and poor chemistry. Honestly, I think they lost their heart as a team and lost several games that should've been easy wins. C'mon, can you honestly tell me that the Raiders were a better team than the Niners?
There are significant losses, but I think only time will tell if they manage to plug the holes. Iupati was a great run blocker and we'll miss that. However, he was not great at pass blocking, so it remains to be seen how his replacement will be.
I agree that there are a lot of question marks, but at the same time, the chemistry wasn't there last season. I can only think it can get better. They should be better than 8-8. How much better? Well, we'll see.
I also think the Seahawks have been extremely fortunate to not have had more injuries themselves of key personnel. If you had lost Chancellor for the entire season (equivalent of us losing Bowman), I'll bet your defense would've taken more hits. Odds are that injuries will catch up with your team, as they have mine.
Should be an interesting season and I think the NFC west will probably be tighter than it was this year.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phillies2011
Don't forget the thousands more who played college football and couldn't make it to the pros. Talk of the NFL dying is hilariously unfounded. How many people play high school football in this country?
Finding enough people to fill out NFL rosters will never be a problem. The issue is what happens to the quality of the talent who take the risk to play? If you're an elite athlete and you have a reasonable shot at going pro in football or baseball, which are you going to choose? Increasingly the best athletes in this country are going to choose other sports. Increasingly parents are going to steer their children away from sports with high rates of concussion and toward sports like soccer and basketball (though ironically one of the only two diagnosed concussions of Borland's life occurred while playing youth soccer).
The NFL will survive, but it's beginning to look more and more like the caliber of players involved will take a severe nose dive in the generations to come unless significant medical advances are made.
Actually, I think another thing you will see, Jonathan Vilma mentioned on PFT a couple of days ago. Guys will wait until their second contract (presumably with a large signing bonus), play one of two years under that contract, then retire.
Football players in middle and high school are now being taught improved tackling techniques. This will soon phase into the college and professional ranks as well. Helmet technology is improving too, with many newer helmets reducing the risk of concussions. The NFL needs to mandate that its players wear these newer, safer helmets. Between that and the phasing in of improved tackling techniques, the rate of concussions in all levels of football will decrease with time. It appears to have already begun in the NFL, with concussions decreasing by 25% between 2010 and 2014. The game is becoming safer.
So Anthony Davis steps away from the game at the age of 25 now. He has left the door open though for possibly coming back in a year or two. He expressed that he needs to take the time to get his mind and body right. He stated something to the affect that it is scary when your brain does not think or react like it should.
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