Early retirement from football has been a recent trend for football players due to the negative effects from the game. Recently the following players have retired at an early age from the NFL citing injuries: Chris Borland(1 year), Jake Locker (4 years), Patrick Willis (8 years), Jason Worilds(5 years) EDIT On Worilds, his was due to knee.
Injuries in the game have gained attention in recent years due to players seeking compensation from the league for not being informed enough regarding the negative effects from playing, former players coming forth with injury concerns, and even the suicide of Junior Seau in 2012 . There are many statistics that have been coming out regarding how NFL players lives are effected following their playing careers with injuries such as CTE, Alzheimer’s(more than 30% suffer), ALS, and other brain diseases.
Now I will state this question to you all, have we seen the golden age in the NFL? Will we now see a decline in talent in the NFL and the rise of other sports such as soccer, baseball, and basketball? I know there will always be people who will step in and play the game but I am questioning the the talent level. Will the next JJ Watt, Calvin Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Luke Kuechly, Richard Sherman be going to other sports? Many parents of recent have been deciding they will not allow their sons play football due to injury concerns.
Did a little bit of research on concussions and from an article by Forbes in 8/14/2014, it stats that from the 3 weeks of the NFL Preseason in 2014 alone had 35 concussions which was more than the NBA and MLB season combined for 2013. I know the numbers may be slightly skewed due to the numbers of players and the more physical game but these type of concerns are being brought up by many.
What do you think?
