When former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland decided to call it a career after just one NFL season, 107 tackles, one sack, two interceptions and, according to the man himself, a few too many concussions, it was met with a fair amount of shock.
How could a player at the top of his profession, slated for a starting gig on a strong unit thanks in large part to his fantastic play in place of an injured veteran, Patrick Willis, who had since retired, and set to make bookoo bucks playing a game beloved by innumerable quantities of people across the nation and the world, simply walk away?
For Borland, who cited concern over his general long-term health and well-being, connected mostly to the repeated head trauma he suffered during a short lifetime's worth of football, when he announced his surprising decision, the money was never a consideration.
It seems that for everyone else, that's all they can think of.
"That has been the biggest surprise for me," Borland said last week at the 2015 Legends of Wisconsin Golf Classic, via Jeff Potrykus of JSOnline.com. "People can't get over the money.
"That's all they think about. But your health is a little more important."
Borland not only called it quits just one year into his professional life, he also returned three-quarters of his signing bonus to the team - a total of $463,077 - which came as part of his four-year, $2.3 million rookie deal.
"I think people were surprised," said Borland. "But I signed a contract. I was living by the contract."
Now four months removed from his monumental, life-shifting decision, Borland, per Potrykus, seemed at peace with his choice and the decision-making behind it.
"Just a combination of my own experience, along with a lot of data that is out there regarding long-term health effects of head injuries," he said. "And I play a position and a style of play where I was susceptible to the worst of it.
"I played a physical brand of football and played through some things where it makes sense for me."
