Chris Borland retirement: 49ers GM Trent Baalke releases statement

The shocking news of Chris Borland's retirement has all of us wondering what just happened. According to the Outside the Lines report, Borland informed the San Francisco 49ers on Friday of his decision to retire. I am slightly shocked the news did not leak before today. However, my guess is Borland controlled this message as best he could to keep it from leaking early.

49ers GM Trent Baalke released this statement regarding Borland's decision:

"While unexpected, we certainly respect Chris' decision," said 49ers general manager Trent Baalke. "From speaking with Chris, it was evident that he had put a great deal of thought into this decision. He was a consummate professional from day one and a very well respected member of our team and community. Chris is a determined young man that overcame long odds in his journey to the NFL and we are confident he will use the same approach to become very successful in his future endeavors. We will always consider him a 49er and wish him all the best."

Any loss is going to hit the general manager hard, but Baalke was a particularly big proponent of Borland. He had all sorts of positive things to say about Borland after the team selected him. Borland joins Patrick Willis and potentially Justin Smith in retirement. And of course, last year Marcus Lattimore retired due to his knee injuries. This has certainly been quite the year....