Christopher Borland (born December 26, 1990) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
who played for the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He played
college football at
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and was drafted by the 49ers in the third round of the
2014 NFL Draft. He is one of the first NFL players to retire from professional football early in his career due to concerns of mid-term brain damage possibly
inherent to the sport.
Early years
Borland attended
Archbishop Alter High School in
Kettering, Ohio, where he was first-team All-state and All-conference player of the year. He was the team captain and MVP. He was a letterman in football, track, basketball and tennis. As a senior, he had 72 tackles, one interception, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries on defense, and rushed for 1,230 yards and 19 touchdowns on offense.
In
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
, he was one of the state's top performers in the shot put. He placed fifth at the state meet in the shot put as a junior. At the 2008 Fairmont Firebird Invitational, he recorded a PR of 11.97 seconds in the
100 meters
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contes ...
. He got a top-throw of 41.05 meters in the
discus at the 2008 OHSAA District T&F Championships. He was the runner-up to the state title in the
shot put event at the 2009 OHSAA District T&F Championships, recording a career-best throw of .
Recruiting
Regarded as a three-star recruit by ''
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
'', he was ranked the No. 55 linebacker nationally. He chose Wisconsin over scholarship offers from
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
and
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
.
College career
2009
Borland played in 13 games, starting six. He led the team with five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He finished third on the team in tackles-for-loss (10.5) and sacks (5.0) and fifth in tackles (54). Borland also returned six kickoffs for 106 yards and made three extra points in the game against
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. Borland was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year in 2009. He was also named to the
FWAA
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...
Freshman All-American team.
2010
Borland played and started two games. He was injured in the second game of the season and missed the rest of the year with a shoulder injury. He was granted an injury redshirt for that season.
2011
Before the season, Borland was on the watchlist for the
Butkus Award
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...
which is awarded to the nations best linebacker. He was also listed on the preseason watchlists for All-Big Ten, first-team by Phil Steele and second-team by Athlon.
On December 8, 2011, Borland was named Third-team All-American by
Yahoo Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. B ...
. His teammate
Russell Wilson joined him on the Third-team while
Montee Ball
Montee Ball Jr. (born December 5, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin, where he was twice recognized as the be ...
was named to the First-team and offensive linemen
Peter Konz
Peter Konz (born June 9, 1989) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wisconsin.
Early years
Konz attended Neenah High School in Neenah, ...
and
Kevin Zeitler
Kevin Zeitler ( ; born March 8, 1990) is an American football guard for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Cincin ...
were named to the Second-team.
2012
![UTEP QB throws under pressure from Chris Borland2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/UTEP_QB_throws_under_pressure_from_Chris_Borland2.jpg)
Borland set a season high with 13 tackles in the
2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game
The 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game was a college football game. It was played on December 1, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, to determine the 2012 champion of the Big Ten Conference. It was played between the Wisc ...
against
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
. He recorded a team-high 9 tackles in the
2013 Rose Bowl
The 2013 Rose Bowl, the 99th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association is the organizer of the ...
against
Stanford. Following the season, Borland was named first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and honorable mention by the media.
2013
Borland was named to the preseason watchlists for the
Chuck Bednarik Award
The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ameri ...
,
Bronko Nagurski Trophy,
Dick Butkus Award
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...
,
Lombardi Award
The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...
and
Lott IMPACT Trophy
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...
. Halfway through the 2013 season ESPN ranked Chris Borland the #4 Defensive MVP.
On November 23, Borland tied the
FBS career forced fumble record, with his 14th, against Minnesota. Also in late November, he was named one of four finalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
Other finalists include
Anthony Barr (UCLA linebacker),
Devon Kennard (USC defensive end) and James Morris (Iowa linebacker).
On December 3, 2013, Borland was named
Big Ten Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year Borland is the fifth Wisconsin player to be named Defensive Player of the Year, joining
Troy Vincent (1991),
Tom Burke (1998),
Jamar Fletcher
Jamar Mondell Israel (born August 28, 1979), born Jamar Mondell Fletcher, is an American former college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons in the early 2000s. He played ...
(2000) and
Erasmus James
Erasmus James (born November 4, 1982) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at University of Wisconsin, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings 18th overall in the 2 ...
(2004). Borland was also named the
Big Ten's Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year.
On December 18, 2013, Borland was named to the first-team
All-America Team
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
by
FWAA
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...
. He also earned second-team All-America honors by the
AP,
Athlon
Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of x86-compatible microprocessors designed and manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The original Athlon (now called Athlon Classic) was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and the fi ...
,
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...
, and ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...
''.
College statistics
Source
Professional career
San Francisco 49ers
Borland was selected with the 13th pick in the third round (77th overall) of the
2014 NFL Draft by the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
. Throughout training camp and preseason, he competed against 49ers veteran
Michael Wilhoite
Michael Wilhoite (born December 7, 1986) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is currently the outside linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washburn Uni ...
for a starting inside linebacker position left absent by the injured
NaVorro Bowman
NaVorro Roderick Bowman (born May 28, 1988) is a former American football linebacker who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the thi ...
.
In the last preseason game against the Houston Texans, Borland led the defense in tackles with six and returned an interception 34 yards for a touchdown.
Borland got his first career start in Week 7 against the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
after the 49ers All-Pro ILB
Patrick Willis
Patrick L. Willis (born January 25, 1985) is an American former football middle linebacker who played his entire eight-year career with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the 49ers in the first rou ...
injured his toe against the St. Louis Rams during week six. He led the 49ers defense with eight tackles, one tackle for loss and he recorded his first career sack against
Peyton Manning. In his second start filling in for Willis, he recorded 18 tackles, 15 solo and three tackles for loss against the St. Louis Rams. His 18 tackles were the most tackles for a single player league-wide and included a "suplex-like" tackle of running back
Tre Mason
Trence Mason (born August 6, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Auburn and was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
High school career
Mason attended Park Vista C ...
.
In a week 10 matchup against the New Orleans Saints, Borland recovered an overtime fumble that led the 49ers to a 27–24 victory. During the game, he recorded 17 tackles and he received his first ever NFL award, which was
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week is an award given to the best performing rookie players in the National Football League (NFL). It was first awarded in 2002 and is sponsored by Pepsi. Winners are chosen among five finalists every week during the seaso ...
. In week 11, he was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the
Eli Manning-led New York Giants where he was the first rookie linebacker in franchise history to get two interceptions in one game. He also led the team in tackles with 13 and had three passes defended. Borland was selected as the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month for November. On December 20, 2014, Borland was placed on season ending IR with an ankle injury. He finished his rookie season with 108 tackles, one sack, and two interceptions, despite starting only 8 games.
On March 16, 2015, Borland announced his retirement from the NFL citing concern of
head trauma
A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...
. He received a $617,436 signing bonus when he inked a four-year rookie deal with the 49ers coming out of college but would be returning approximately three-quarters of this bonus to the team, or about $463,077.
Professional statistics
Source
Awards and achievements
NFL
* Defensive Rookie of the Month (November 2014)
* NFC Defensive Player of the Week (Week 11, 2014)
*
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week
Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week is an award given to the best performing rookie players in the National Football League (NFL). It was first awarded in 2002 and is sponsored by Pepsi. Winners are chosen among five finalists every week during the seaso ...
(Weeks 10 & 11, 2014)
College
* First-team
All-America Team
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
–
FWAA
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...
(2013)
* 3× First-team All-Big Ten (2011, 2012, 2013)
*
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (2013)
*
Big Ten Linebacker of the Year (2013)
* Third-team
All-American –
Yahoo Sports
Yahoo! Sports is a sports news website launched by Yahoo! on December 8, 1997. It receives a majority of its information from STATS, Inc. It employs numerous writers, and has team pages for teams in almost every North American major sport. B ...
(2011)
* Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2009)
*
FWAA
The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...
Freshman All-America Team (2009)
* Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (2009)
* 3×
Big Ten Champion (
2010,
2011,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
)
* Division I FBS most fumbles forced, career (14)
* 4×
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
Defensive Player of the Week (Weeks 10 & 12 –
2011, Week 4 –
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
, Week 11
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
)
*Big Ten Conference Outstanding Sportsmanship Award (2014)
*UW Student-Athlete of the Year (2014)
Life after football
![Borland attended the premier of GridIron Gladiators directed by Todd Trigsted](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Borland_attended_the_premier_of_GridIron_Gladiators_directed_by_Todd_Trigsted.JPG)
Borland attended the premiere of ''GridIron Gladiators'', directed by Todd Trigsted on April 19, 2015, in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
Borland has been outspoken about his decision to retire. He has received both praise and criticism for his assertions in many interviews, including one with
CBS News in which he stated that he believes football as a whole to be "inherently dangerous".
In a December 2015 ''
Frontline'' interview, Borland said, "Last year the NFL commissioned actuaries to estimate how many NFL veterans would have brain damage. And the number they came up with was three out of 10. So if I turn on a game, and a third of the guys will have brain damage in life, I just, I can't really support that. And, I don't really watch football anymore. If it's on, I may peek at it, but ..." He shook his head as the video faded.
Borland appeared in Episode 2 & 3 of the Netflix special three-part docuseries, ''
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez'' and discussed brain health in relation to football.
In 2018 he said that retiring early from football was very tough. After ESPN called him “the most dangerous man in football” for discussing the problem with concussions, he said that “I fell into a funk. I was trapped in a role I didn’t want. It was a hard couple of months.”
In the same interview he said he works with the After the Impact Fund, which is a non-profit focused on helping veterans with PTSD and athletes with concussions.
References
External links
Wisconsin profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borland, Chris
1990 births
Living people
American football linebackers
Wisconsin Badgers football players
San Francisco 49ers players
People from Kettering, Ohio
Players of American football from Ohio
All-American college football players