If I can keep it 100 for just a minute.
If Aaron Hernandez did what he is accused of doing, his actions has zero to do with football. He has been a psychopathic murderer from MANY years of his young life. It is insulting to Chris Borland to even be mentioned in the same sentence with Aaron Hernandez. They have nothing in common and their situations aren’t similar at all beyond they played football. The premise is so off, that I am shocked SI editors even let it go to print.
Here is what SI’s Michael Rosenberg had to say.
To understand Chris Borland’s decision to retire, look across the country, at another prominent young former NFL player: Aaron Hernandez.
Hernandez is a year older than Borland. He, too, could be starring in the NFL next season, but he is in a Massachusetts courtroom instead, on trial for murdering his acquaintance Odin Lloyd. The trial is not going well for Hernandez, and even if he is somehow acquitted, he faces another trial for a separate double-murder case.
It sure looks like Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in jail.
And when he sits there, at age 50, he may be better off than if he had stayed in the NFL.
No, he wouldn’t.
Ask 100 people this question. Would you rather spend ages 25-75 in jail or know that you will only live to say 55, but you will be free? The catch is during ages 25-35 you will be playing a sport that pays you millions even though you know there is a chance of neurological damage that will shorten your life to 55 (just a chance, not a given).
I know what 100 people will choose and if you made Rosenberg take a lie detector test, I am sure what Rosenberg would choose as well.