Will Smith Tackles the NFL - but the show must go on!

Will Smith tackles the NFL in the movie "Concussion." The film is based on the GQ article "Game Brain and follows Dr. Bennet Omalu and his discovery of the brain disease CTE in two former NFL players - Mike Webster and Terry Long. 

Dr. Bennet Omalu and Dr. Julian Bailes

Here is a short excerpt from the GQ article quoting Dr. Omalu:  "I was naive. There are times I wish I never looked at Mike Webster’s brain. It has dragged me into worldly affairs I do not want to be associated with. Human meanness, wickedness, and selfishness. People trying to cover up, to control how information is released. I started this not knowing I was walking into a minefield. That is my only regret."

The film is set for a Christmas Day release - not the kind of present the NFL was hoping to receive this year. 

The GQ article is a "must read" and the film is a "must see" for every active and former NFL football player. You can also watch an interview with Dr. Omalu from the Frontline documentary League of Denial at this link: Dr. Bennet Omalu

The Bleacher Report - one of the most prominent sports websites on the internet - wrote an article about the movie entitled: League concerned fans will hate NFL after watching Will Smith concussion movie.   Mike Freeman, the Lead NFL Writer for Bleacher Report discusses how the film could impact the NFL.

Regardless of how fans feel about the NFL, there is one thing the movie will not do. It will not stop anyone from watching the trainwrecks that occur on every snap of the football and it will not stop people from attending football games. America is addicted to violence and I'll bet my bottom dollar that attendance at NFL games will remain steady, despite the fact that there will be no TV blackouts in 2015

The National Football League is the largest live spectator sport in the world (excluding auto racing) in terms of average attendance. Despite the recession and rising ticket prices, the NFL had 17,522,993 live viewers for the 2014 season - an increase of more than 500,000 over the 2010 season of 17,010,511 live viewers. 

Although we haven't digressed to the point of the Roman Empire where gladiators routinely fought to the death in the Colosseum, it's sad to know that CTE is almost worse, because it's a slow death that leads to dementia and Alzheimer's disease and it not only destroys the life of the player - but in many cases it severely affects the lives of their family and friends.

As much as I know now about the harmful effects of playing football, do I regret playing and would I encourage anyone not to play?  No - with one exception.  I don't like the idea of very young children playing football, because their brains are still developing.

In the final analysis, I guess you could say I'm addicted to football.  I knew it was bad for me, but I did it anyway. As a player, how can you beat the high of seeing and hearing 80,000 fans cheering for you as you come down that tunnel at Ralph Wilson Coliseum......excuse me, I meant stadium. 

The gladiator games lasted for nearly a thousand years. 

Does anyone really think a movie is going to make anyone think twice about getting their fix?