Top 10 NFL players that retired too soon
With five players shocking the NFL and calling it a career well before they had to, who are the top ten players in NFL history who cut their careers short and retired early?
Historically, NFL players typically played out their careers until their body physically didn’t allow them to take the field anymore. This year, we have finally started to see a trend in the NFL where young players, who could have a bright future in the NFL, are deciding that they choose their health over a 12 year career.
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It was only a matter of time. As the years have gone by, the NFL has gotten more physical, violent, and just all-around dangerous. Certain rules (like the player hit-box) have tried to limit the amount of injury that occurs in a season. But because of the nature of the sport, it is near impossible to do so.
The most notable of the recent early retirements comes from the San Francisco 49ers. Chris Borland, just 24 years old, seemed to have a promising future ahead of him. But citing risk of brain damage and mental health issues that have plagued the NFL for decades as the main reason for his retirement, Borland will no longer suit up as a professional football player.
Borland does have a point. The NFL is a dangerous game. No wonder that most of the people on this list are running backs. After all, half backs typically take the most physical stress out of any position on the field. Time will tell if Borland is leading a movement or is just the next member of a short lived trend as far as early retirement goes in the NFL. The guy does have most of his life left to live. So why plague yourself with a 40 years of joint pain when you can choose another career that is less risky?
Borland isn’t the first to do so and he certainly won’t be the last. Over the course of the NFL many players have called it career well before their time to stop playing the game needed to happen. So here are the top ten players in NFL history that retired too early.
Next: 10. Brian Urlacher