Corn Flakes: Is Football Dying?

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland retires over head injury concerns - ESPN

BERKELEY, Calif. -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland, one of the NFL's top rookies last season, told "Outside the Lines" on Monday that he is retiring because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma. Borland, 24, said he notified the 49ers on Friday. He said he made his decision after consulting with family members, concussion researchers, friends and current and former teammates, and studying what is known about the relationship between football and neurodegenerative disease.

Last week I was talking to a client and football came up. "Football is dying, isn't it?", she said. I said... "No...", then she continued "all those head injuries, who's going to let their sons play football?". I really didn't have much of an answer for her.

Borland's retirement is high profile news. It'll be discussed on every channel, every talk radio station, every newspaper. It will only add to the growing fuel of "football is dying". Borland might be the first high profile player to quit the NFL so early, but he certainly won't be the last.

The NFL and NCAA have been way to slow to respond to the concussion/head trauma issues, as if you could ignore the problem and it will go away. Both institutions will respond with the same rhetoric; that they've made changes, the game is safer than it's ever been and maybe they're right (although, still, way too slow).

Research is ongoing. Changes will and have been made. Technology is always looked at as a savior. All of it is an interesting intersection of the evolution of football.

Those aren't the real issue, though. The key is all those Moms. "Who's going to let their sons play football?".

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Huskers Women's Basketball Draws #9 Seed in NCAA Tournament - Corn Nation
The Husker women's hoopsters will face #8 Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

Nebraska Baseball: FGCU sweep, Food Poisoning - Corn Nation
Nebraska set a non-conference attendance record for a series this weekend while sweeping Florida Golf Coast, last years Atlantic Sun Conference champions. The first two games were breeze with...

Practice report March 16: Defense emphasizing ball pursuit - Omaha.com: Big Red Today Blog
One thing defensive coordinator Mark Banker said he's focused on engraining into his players this spring: A fly-to-the-ball mentality. He's already mentioned it a ton. The Nebraska players have, too. For the defense to work, they have to swarm to the football with relentlessness and tenacity.

React, attack: Banker's Husker defense aims to cash in - Omaha.com: Big Red Today - Husker Football News, Schedules And Videos
Nebraska’s football team selected two defensive MVPs last season. Neither was Randy Gregory, the guy about to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft.

Huskers Enjoy Warm Weather on Monday - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
NU defensive coordinator Mark Banker met with media members following the conclusion of practice, mentioning that the new Blackshirt defense has basically been fully installed. “We have pretty much finished up our base package, as far as what we are going to put in except for a couple things down in the red zone, just because we have not been there,” Banker said. “On Friday, Saturday we started a little nickel, but it was really just replacing a defensive back for an outside linebacker and start evolving from that standpoint.”

Quick hits, news and notes from Nebraska's Monday practice
A quick rundown of news and notes from Nebraska's Monday practice.

4-Star QB Brandon Peters Releases Top Five | College Spun

Avon (Ind.) High School's Brandon Peters is one of the top Pro Style quarterbacks in the class of 2016. Peters is a sought-after prospect, and today he released his top five schools, subject to change

Predicting March Madness 2015 as if each college's football team is playing - SBNation.com
Now that there's a bracket, let's change the sport.

John Oliver went all in on NCAA for shameful March Madness commercialism - SBNation.com
Owned.

The big 2015 Charlotte football guide: Expect shootouts in Year 1 of FBS - SBNation.com
Brad Lambert's Charlotte 49ers join the FBS ranks with an exciting offense and a defense that might be exciting in all the wrong ways in 2015.

Police investigating Innocents Society for alleged hazing - Daily Nebraskan: News
Allegations of hazing within the chancellor’s senior honorary surfaced last Monday after a Daily Nebraskan article detailed alumni’s concerns about the decades-old tradition of tackling new members. Days before, a video allegedly depicting the practice was published on popular blog Total Frat Move.

STOVER: Pressure on Husker student athletes is too much - Daily Nebraskan: Sports
The expectations set for Husker athletic teams are beyond realistic – they’re unfair. The Husker football players are treated like professionals, and the expectations set for the Husker men’s basketball team were blown way out of proportion after a surprising 19-13 record and an appearance in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

B1G NIT: Oh My God Who The Hell Cares? - Off Tackle Empire
A smorgasboard of disappointment awaits

The Five Stages of NCAA Tournament Bracket Picking - Off Tackle Empire
OTE has given you the five stages of picking your bracket, starting with smart picks and ending in homerism.