The 2015 movie Concussion starring Will Smith as a Nigerian-American forensic pathologist who worked hard to prove that repeated blows to the head while playing football causes chronic trauma encephalopathy (CTE), may not have had the impact that was hoped for by the actor. The doctor exposed the truth about the brain injuries that National Football League players often get with the hope it would have an impact on the way football is played. Neither the doctor, nor the movie seems to have woken up spectators to the horrors of this type of entertainment. People like Mary Hayashi have also worked hard to see that football and other sports do not damage the children and youths who play them.
One of the steps that …show more content…
They also found that out of 165 people who played football at the professional, college or high school level 131 tested positive for CTE. These statistics bring into sharp focus the work Mary and others do to save children from life-long debilities.
The NFL has acknowledged the problem with the number of cases reported by ESPN increasing every year. A federal appeals court upheld approximately $1 billion concussion settlement between thousands of former players and the NFL. However, it is also important for spectators to acknowledge the problem. Will Smith’s disappointment is that spectators did not get behind the mission to modify the game to save lives.
CTE is a progressive degenerative disease that affects football players, boxers and other athletes who have a history of regular brain trauma. It is the trauma that triggers progressive degeneration of brain tissue and starts a build-up of tau, an abnormal protein. Years or decades after the end of active involvement in the sport, the changes in the brain may begin. Some of the symptoms associated with the degeneration