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Chris Jones, Mike Reilly say concussions likely prompted Pat White's retirement
When Edmonton quarterback Pat White elected to retire at 29 Thursday after just one season in the CFL, his decision surprised many, and it wasn't clear why he was leaving the game. White still hasn't spoken publicly about why he walked away from football, but as Chris O'Leary of The Edmonton Journal relates, Eskimos' head coach Chris Jones and starting quarterback Mike Reilly both attributed White's decision to concussions. White has suffered several of those over the years, including one in last year's regular-season finale that knocked him out for the playoffs. Jones told O'Leary Friday that White's retirement was similar to that of 24-year-old NFLer Chris Borland, who also walked away this offseason over fears of further concussions. From O'Leary's piece:
On Friday, Eskimos head coach Chris Jones suggested what many had assumed with the news.
“He’s had a history with a certain injury, and he just didn’t want to face that,” Jones said of White, whose first season in the CFL came to an end with a concussion suffered in the regular-season finale against the B.C. Lions on Nov. 1.
Jones likened White’s decision to that of 24-year-old San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, who retired on March 16, saying that football is inherently dangerous.
“(White) looked to his future and saw that there were some other opportunities, stuff like that,” Jones said. “When someone makes that decision, who am I to try to talk him out of it?”
That's interesting on several levels. First, it's notable to have confirmation that White left on his own terms and the team had wanted him to return. Beyond that, if White's retirement was over concussions, that adds him to a growing cast of CFL players who have retired before 30 largely over that issue, including Dimitri Tsoumpas and Andrew Woodruff. That's further illustration that Borland's decision reflects how much of an issue concussions and concussion fears are becoming for pro football players both north and south of the border. It's also notable that Jones doesn't object to this decision and didn't try to talk White out of it; that's remarkably progressive for a head coach, and a point of view we haven't always seen expressed. Reilly also told O'Leary he understood and respected White's decision:
“I didn’t know if he was going to retire or not, but I wasn’t surprised by his decision,” Eskimos starting quarterback Mike Reilly said of White. “Simply because you know that he’s had concussion issues when he was in the NFL (White took a big concussion-inducing hit in 2009) and he took that hit last year (against the Lions).
“I don’t know the depth of his injury, but I do know that he wasn’t in the building for the week (after) staying home, trying to recover.
“It’s always too bad when you see a guy that’s still pretty young that has to make that decision, but you also respect a guy that can make that decision, because it’s hard.”
Reilly's comments here are well worth considering, as he's had a concussion history as well (and has also battled significant thumb and foot injuries). There doesn't seem to be any indication at the moment that he's thinking about retirement, and he's just 30; he's also in a much better situation than White (entrenched, well-paid veteran starting quarterback versus rookie third-stringer), so there are substantial incentives for him to keep playing. If he suffers further concussions, though, he might be thinking more about White's decision.
That's not to single Reilly out, either. The dangers of concussions are something that most CFL players will at least consider at some point, which is what makes these early retirements so notable. We're not going to see a mass exodus right now, and there will still be lots of players who want to play professional football for the foreseeable future, but some talented guys like White who could have had further CFL jobs have already elected to leave, and others may join them. That adds to the need for the league to do everything it can on concussion prevention, short-term treatment and long-term treatment. The CFL's never going to keep every player, but the more it does on the concussion front, the more players it will retain. Without continued progress, though, the ranks of those like White who leave over concussions will only swell.
