AT THE MOVIES - "Concussion"

"New film tackles dangers of concussions in the NFL" PBS NewsHour 12/23/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Dr. Bennet Omalu was working in a Pittsburg coroner's office when he was asked to examine the body of a local football hero.  What he discovered would bring new attention to the hazards of head injuries.  A new film, "Concussion," chronicles the NFL's early efforts to discredit the research.  Jeffrey Brown reports.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  “Concussion” follows the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, played by Will Smith.  A Nigerian-born forensic pathologist, Omalu was working in a Pittsburgh coroner’s office in 2002 when he was asked to examine the body of a local football hero, former Steelers center Mike Webster.

He discovered protein deposits in Webster’s outwardly healthy brain, which he linked to repeated head trauma from football, and a disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.  The film chronicles the league’s early efforts to discredit the research.

ACTOR:  If you retract, you will be fine.  This all goes away.

WILL SMITH, Actor:  Why are they doing this?

ACTOR:  They’re terrified of you.  Bennet Omalu is going to war with a corporation that has 20 million people on a weekly basis craving their product, the same way they crave food.  The NFL owns a day of the week.

DR. BENNET OMALU, Forensic Pathologist:  I knew nothing about football.  I knew nothing about the NFL

JEFFREY BROWN:  Recently, we had the chance to talk with the real Bennet Omalu.

DR. BENNET OMALU:  When I saw the pathologies of Mike’s brain, I reviewed all his medical records.  There was no single mention of any disease.  I thought America was a country made up of the most brilliant.  How come nobody has seen this?

JEFFREY BROWN:  An early ally, played in the film by Alec Baldwin, was Dr. Julian Bailes, a neurosurgeon and former team doctor for the Steelers.  He told us of his early trepidation at going public.

DR. JULIAN BAILES, Former Team Doctor, Pittsburgh Steelers:  I remember remarking to my wife that this wasn’t going to be a fun journey.  I had been a football player.  It was my favorite sport.  I didn’t want it to be true, but I felt that it was, and that we needed to bring it forward and that Bennet Omalu needed the help from myself and others to do that.