“As you probably know, I’ve had a little extra time on my hands,” began Baltimore Ravens running back Justin Forsett, who is still recovering from that nasty broken arm, in a piece describing his experience with the new movie ‘Concussion’ which features Nigerian neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu and his struggle to bring his discovery of CTE (a serious brain injury related to football contact) to the spotlight.
The movie has been a hot-button issue for the NFL over the past few months, yet even with the release date upon us, Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to dodge the topic.
“I think we’re at 39 rule changes over the last 10 years to make our game safer,” said Goodell when asked about the movie. “They’ve had a dramatic impact on the game. We’ve seen reductions in concussions 35 percent. We’re seeing the rules protect players from unnecessary injuries, and that’s important.”
Of course, the reduction of concussions seems to have a direct correlation to season-ending knee injuries, but that’s a story for a different day.
Either way, the entire concussion situation has been extremely awkward for Goodell, the punching bag of the NFL. Did anyone see that laugh he let out after Roger Staubach’s “six concussions” joke? Pathetic.
But back to the movie:
“Now I’m going to get my film critic on,” continued Forsett. “I’ll start by saying that it was definitely a powerful movie. It was eye-opening in a lot of ways, and I think every player needs to see it. I also think it would be good for fans to see a movie like this to kind of take the helmet off the players and kind of think of them as more than the guys you see on Sunday. There are other things we battle with as players, and I think this movie gives a glimpse into that.”
There is definitely a disconnect between players and fans, no matter how much we feel like we understand what they go through. Maybe this movie is an attempt to bridge the gap.
Either way, Goodell can expect a lot of backlash on Christmas Day. And Will Smith kicks ass. Can’t wait.