Pound for Pound: The Chris Borland Story
June 09, 2026 | Football
When Chris Borland was offered a scholarship to play football at Wisconsin, he celebrated the moment first with a bear hug and something only a confident acrobat would try.
This was June 24, 2008. Then-UW coach Bret Bielema had just called Borland into his office at Camp Randall Stadium and informed him that his dream school indeed wanted to offer him a chance to play for the Badgers.
Borland responded with a big hug for Bielema. Then, after taking the elevator down from the eighth level, Borland, holding a pair of cleated shoes in one hand and a fistful of papers in the other, executed a perfect backflip in the outer concourse.
“My dad asked me if I got a scholarship offer from every school in the country, where would I choose. For me, it was Wisconsin,” Borland said. “My grandpa went to school here. My dad grew up in Madison. It’s cliché, but it was my dream school.”
The Recruiting Story
Borland had just put on a show that left Bielema scrambling for superlatives during a multi-day camp for college prospects.
According to Bielema, UW assistant coach Joe Rudolph had informed him that a kid from Kettering, Ohio, was someone he should keep an eye on.
“I don’t know what he is, a safety or a running back,” Rudolph told Bielema. “He’s just a really good player. His coach thinks highly of him.”
“I’m like, ‘All right, duly noted,’” Bielema said.
Borland first caught Bielema’s eye at the end of a session in which prospects volunteered to stay after and punt.
“There’s Borland,” Bielema recalled. “The ball is just booming off his leg.”
Borland said he wasn’t a punter, though. “My coach always told me to be ready,” he said.
The show continued during a subsequent 7-on-7 session.
“I swear he has about a half dozen picks, just grabbing the ball left and right playing linebacker,” Bielema said.
Then came a kicking session during which Borland was pitted against other campers. “The ball is popping off his foot again,” Bielema said, noting that Borland finally missed a field-goal try from 45 or 50 yards out.
“You kick?” Bielema asked Borland. “No, my coach said just be ready,” he said again.
At a staff meeting the next morning, Bielema didn’t see Borland’s name on the list of recruits being targeted for a scholarship. Instead, a theme developed.
“Runs well, but not very big. I think we can do better.”
“I like him. He runs well, but I don’t think he’s a fit.”
Bielema said he made the final call on Borland.
“I’ll bet you that in the next couple of years you’re all going to thank me,” Bielema said to his staffers.
The Leader
Borland wound up being named Big Ten Conference freshman of the year in 2009 and was voted linebacker and defensive player of the year in 2013. He also was a three-time all-Big Ten first-team choice in 2011, ’12 and ’13 as well as a first-team All-American as a senior, finishing his college career with a Big Ten Conference-record 15 forced fumbles, which ranks second on the FBS list.
He finished his college career with 50 tackles for loss, which ranks fourth in UW history, and 417 tackles, which stands sixth in the school record book.
Borland was subsequently chosen by San Francisco in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft and made the league’s all-rookie team.
No surprise then that Borland will be inducted into the 2026 class of the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
Pound for pound by far the best player I ever coached.Bret Bielema, former UW Head Coach
Borland was taken aback by Bielema’s praise.
“I’m so indebted,” he said. “I never could have had any success if not for the belief and patience of Bret and Dave Doeren and all the coaches on the defensive staff.”
Borland’s aura as a leader was such that future Heisman Trophy contender Melvin Gordon craved his approval. It came from Borland after the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game rout over Nebraska when Gordon, a third-string running back, rushed for 216 yards during a 70-31 romp.
“He walks up to me and he’s like, “Now you’re officially a Badger,” Gordon recalled. “That to me was one of my proudest moments, one of my happiest moments because I was like, ‘Dude, I got the green light from Chris Borland.’ This is the guy that everyone follows.’”
He walks up to me and says, 'Now you're officially a Badger.' That to me was one of my proudest moments.Melvin Gordon, on receiving Borland's approval
The Decision
The San Francisco 49ers selected Borland in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He spent one season in the NFL – totaling 107 total tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and two interceptions – before making a startling decision.
He retired after one season due to concerns over brain injuries, telling ESPN that he was stepping away from the game because of concerns about the long-term effects of repetitive head trauma. He returned a large chunk of his signing bonus from the 49ers and began advocating for former athletes and military veterans living with brain injury.
“I’m on pause right now,” said Borland, who now lives in Madison.
“The headline is that there’s no regrets. I think my point is that people fixate on me leaving the NFL after one year. I never second-guessed that.
Borland said playing in the NFL “was satisfying and thrilling” but there’s not a lot of looking back. I’m totally at peace with what I did in the game and what I’ve done since.
“I think I’m really content with my experience in high school and college,” he said. “If there’s ever any doubt it would be more about having played at all than having quit. But there’s no regrets.”
BEST OF THREE
One: What’s Borland most proud of from his UW career? “I never cheated any aspect of anything related to football,” he said. “There’s a better way to put it, but I really gave it my all. It sounds so trite, but I tried my best.”
Two: Borland was asked about the most important lesson he learned from his time at UW. “Above all, it’s who you share the experience with,” he said. “I think it’s all about your teammates really. It’s something you often hear when former athletes reminisce. Yeah, they remember the games, but it’s really about the camaraderie.”
Three: Borland showed up at UW as a self-described small, slow, white kid who didn’t know the difference between an “A” gap and a “B” gap.
“I’m really the result of a developmental program,” he said. “I got better by leaps and bounds because of the way the football program was running those days.”
At Camp Randall Stadium on Thursday, May 28, University of Wisconsin Interim Director of Athletics Marcus Sedberry revealed that Chris Borland will be inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.
The class of legendary Badgers will be inducted into the Hall of Fame later this fall during a weekend of celebration on September 18 and 19. The inductees will be honored inside Camp Randall Stadium during Wisconsin Football's meeting with Eastern Michigan (Sept. 19 – 11:30 a.m. CT).
