COLUMN: ‘Concussion’ illustrates our ignorance
For two hours during my winter break, I listened to what most American football fans don’t want to hear.
“Concussion” stars prominent actors like Will Smith, Alec Baldwin and Luke Wilson.
The film depicted the largest issue in America’s most popular sport, yet it did worse in the box office than “Joy” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.”
Why?
It’s the same reason tobacco companies don’t want to address the consequences of lung cancer and the food industry tries to skate around the harms of processed foods. We don’t want to hear about the deathly costs of the things we love.
The movie attempts to bring light to the long-term health dangers of sustained brain trauma as a result of playing football at a high level.
We have two choices: Ignore the science and maintain the status quo, or be educated and look at the horrors beyond the veil.
After seeing the degenerative disease caused by the big hits myself and so many others enjoy watching on a regular basis, I was forced to realize America’s favorite sport has deeper consequences than broken bones.
Less than an hour after seeing the film, I was sitting at a restaurant, enthralled with the drama of TCU and Oregon on the gridiron in the triple-overtime Alamo Bowl.
For the players, I imagine the cognitive dissonance — having inconsistencies between behaviors and attitudes — has to be even greater.
In the NFL this year, former Chippewa Jahleel Addae was one of 166 players who suffered a concussion — roughly 10 percent of the players in the league.
During 2014-2015, there were 16 student-athletes who went through CMU’s concussion protocol, according to CMU Athletics. While Coach John Bonamego said in December he planned on seeing "Concussion," multiple players were not interested.
Junior quarterback Cooper Rush and senior center Nick Beamish — two players with NFL potential — said they heard a lot about the movie, but weren’t planning on seeing it.
Senior wide receiver Jesse Kroll said he “probably” will see the film, but tries not to think about the effects of head injuries.
“Personally for me, it’s not really something that I worry about, because when you’re out there playing, you’re thinking about playing the game,” Kroll said. “You’re not worried about getting hurt. You can’t at this level. It’s not really something I think about very often, to be honest.”
While Hollywood added its glitz and glamour to "Concussion," the main claims are backed up by the PBS Frontline Documentary “League of Denial,” a documentary which focused on much of the same concussion-related drama as the film.
Sony decided to delete and alter a few scenes that took creative liberty depicting “unflattering moments” for the NFL for legal reasons.
While on one hand it seems as if the NFL’s power has an unsettling influence here, the movie has enough incriminating evidence against the league to make its case.
The NFL has slowly adapted to try and prevent concussions, including rule changes banning hits to the crown of the helmet outside the tackle box and placing an independent neurologist on the sidelines of every game, who has the authority to stop a game if a player needs to be evaluated for a head injury.
"Concussion" suggests the NFL cares more about good public relations and not losing grip on its billion-dollar enterprise than player safety. While the league agreed to pay $765 million to former players for its failure to protect players from head injuries, as part of the deal there was no admission of guilt.
The first step to solving an issue is admitting you have a problem.
At the very least, players and fans need to know the real consequences.
