Ravens Center John Urschel Shocks John Harbaugh By Retiring At 26 After Recent CTE Study

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Just two days after a bombshell study by the medical journal JAMA found that CTE was found in 99% of deceased NFL players’ brains that were donated to scientific research, Baltimore Ravens center John Urschel has retired. A team source said Urschel’s decision was linked to the results of the study, ESPN reports. He’s just 26.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh released the following statement regarding the decision:

 “This morning John Urschel informed me of his decision to retire from football. We respect John and respect his decision. We appreciate his efforts over the past three years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Harbaugh claimed that Urschel’s decision was “out of the blue,” and he had been working hard to win the starting center job for the Ravens. Urschel’s decision shocked the Ravens organization considering just last January, he told HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel that his passion for playing football outweighs the risks of suffering head trauma.

Urschel likely won’t have trouble finding gainful employment considering he is pursuing his doctorate in advanced mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). While at Penn State, he was also awarded the William V. Campbell Trophy, known as the “Academic Heisman.” He also managed to dominate BroBible’s own and fellow Penn State grad Brandon Wenerd in a hard-fought game of Connect Four.

It will be interesting to see if Urschel’s retirement has a domino effect on other young players in the league who want to avoid the effects of CTE.

https://twitter.com/JohnCUrschel/status/604770680031313920

Ya. I think he’ll be okay.

[h/t ESPN]