49ers player retires at age 24, says football isn't 'worth the risk' in groundbreaking decision

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland told ESPN's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru that he was retiring at age 24, becoming the highest-profile NFL player to quit the sport at a young age because of concerns over head injuries.

"I just want to live a long healthy life, and I don't want to have any neurological diseases or die younger than I would otherwise," he said.

Borland is "healthy" for an NFL player. He told ESPN that he had been found to have just two concussions, both before he reached the NFL. He played one season for the 49ers after playing for Wisconsin in college.

He told ESPN:

I've thought about what I could accomplish in football, but for me personally, when you read about Mike Webster and Dave Duerson and Ray Easterling, you read all these stories and to be the type of player I want to be in football, I think I'd have to take on some risks that as a person I don't want to take on." 

He added: "I just honestly want to do what's best for my health. From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."

It's a groundbreaking decision. For the first time, a young, starting-quality NFL player is voluntarily leaving the game because he believes it is inherently dangerous, even for a player with relatively few concussion diagnoses.

In a tweet supporting Borland's decision, St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long called quitting football the "logical" move:

The NFL is the most popular sport in the country. But the increasingly prominent idea that playing football is fundamentally dangerous and illogical is a legitimate threat to the game's future.