In 2015, former Baltimore Ravens guard John Urschel wrote a candid essay titled “Why I Still Play Football” for The Players’ Tribune following San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland’s decision to leave the NFL. The math prodigy, Urschel, admitted that stepping onto the NFL field is mathematically irrational for someone with the kind of academic prospects he had. Yet he justified it with 4 words: “I love hitting people.” 

In just a couple of years, on the morning of July 27, 2017, John Urschel’s opinion took a U-Turn at the Ravens Owings Mills training facility on first day of camp he was supposed to take over as the starting centre. However, the 26-year-old walked into then-HC John Harbaugh’s office and announced his decision to step away from football. Now, almost a decade later, the MIT assistant professor of mathematics, who holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the same institute, spoke about his decision on the Better in Person with Stephen Dubner show.

“So this is the last year of my rookie contract. I make a decent amount more, at least a million a year. I’m thinking maybe I do one more, maybe I don’t. And, you know, I’m going back and forth, and I’m just saying, ‘No, I’m not going to, like, come on. I need to.’ And then I say, ‘No, I should.’ You know, sort of going back to high school me, like I have a year left on my contract. I need to see my contract out… 

“These contracts are not guaranteed. If you’re hurt you’re done and you know in hindsight why is this such a hard decision like I needed to retire and focus on math and like go like hang out with my kid and the more time I spent at MIT math really sort of went above and then you know this idea of being a parent this is also going above and so now like in hindsight like if football’s the third most important thing to me and it’s a legitimate liability for the first two you know for a long mass not to mention all the hours it’s taking away and the toll it takes on your body. Not even your head, but you know, your entire body to walk.”

Just two days before his announcement, a JAMA study showed CTE in 110 of 111 deceased former NFL players. For Urschel, a student of applied mathematics, those numbers were impossible to ignore and completely changed how he had previously assessed personal risk. 

Walking away meant turning his back on serious financial security. Urschel was scheduled to make a base salary of $690,000 in 2017, with a lucrative second contract waiting on the horizon. Instead, he chose to walk away from generational wealth to survive on a graduate student stipend at MIT.

The news caught the Ravens off guard. However, HC John Harbaugh publicly expressed respect for the decision. He acknowledged that while the team was surprised by the timing, they supported Urschel’s desire to pursue his academic passions and protect his future well-being outside of the gridiron.  

In August 2015, an incident gave him a taste of what a prolonged NFL career could mean. Urschel suffered a helmet-to-helmet collision with Ravens safety Terrence Brooks during an open-field drill in practice. The impact knocked the OL unconscious.

While recovering, Urschel realized that he could not solve high-level mathematical proofs and noticed a drop in his cognitive abilities and sharpness. It took almost a month for his mental clarity to return, giving him a firsthand glimpse of brain trauma’s dangers.  

Subsequently, in spring 2016, he secretly enrolled in MIT’s applied mathematics doctoral program. He juggled MIT coursework during the week with Ravens games on Sundays, staying up late to balance both commitments. 

Since his early NFL retirement, Urschel completed his PhD in 2021, served as a member at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, and returned to MIT as a tenure-track assistant professor in 2023.