The NFL has made concussions and head trauma one of the biggest issues in the sport over the past few years and now Hollywood will tackle the controversy with the new film "Concussion," starring Will Smith.
The new is set to be released on Friday for Christmas and the movie will detail the story of Bennet Omalu, a doctor who found the disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in a deceased football player. Omalu was a forensic pathologist in Pittsburgh when he first came across the disease and it happened after he examined the body of former Steelers star Mike Webster.
Webster previously died suddenly and he reportedly had been dealing with years of depression, mood swings and other issues before passing away. Omalu suspected that there was something more at play with Webster and did research, eventually publishing his findings about the disease and calling it "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy."
The film is a dramatic retelling of this event and the events that followed, which saw the NFL try and discount Omalu and his research into the disease. The cast of the film is high profile, with Smith leading the way as Omalu, while Luke Wilson stars as Roger Goodell. Some other cast members include David Morse, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Arliss Howard, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks and Paul Reiser.
It has been an odd look to see previews of the film play during NFL games and on ESPN and other sports networks, but it's not surprising that the NFL has basically said nothing publicly about the film. The movie likely will not portray the NFL in the best light when it comes to concerns over head trauma and concussions and the fact that it is spotlighting an issue so divisive and important makes the movie a bit of a hot potato for the league.
While the league likely wants to distance itself from the film and the portrayal, saying anything about it likely will only bring more attention to the movie and to the NFL's role in the head injury crisis.
