Dr. Bennett Omalu Vindicated In The Film Concussions

Imagine this… you walk into your grandparents’ house only to find out your grandfather cannot remember who you are or how you relate to him. “Grandpa, it’s me, your granddaughter,” you try explaining to him. “Who?” he inquires. Although you are deeply saddened he cannot remember your name or the memories you created with him, you smile and pretend everything is all right—nonetheless, it takes an emotional toll on you and your family. Despite the fact this does not directly pertain to me, I know many people who encounter these challenges. One example is my friend’s grandfather, Jim Cadile. Cadile played eleven seasons as an offensive guard for the Chicago Bears from 1962-1972. At the height of his career, he won the NFL Championship—which is equivalent to the Super Bowl. During his NFL career, he suffered too many concussions which explains why he is currently struggling with Sundown Disease—a symptom of Alzheimer’s Disease. A concussion occurs when the brain jolts and its tissue breaks or stretches. When this happens, the brain can no longer send proper signals, thoughts, and commands to the body (LaMendola). In 2013, there was a $765 million lawsuit between the NFL and retired players—including Cadile—for covering up the risks of concussions resulting from playing football (Schwarz, Bogdanich, Williams). In the lawsuit, some people claim concussions have become an accepted part of football, due to its “tough guy” attitude (Farmer). However, concussions should not be

CTE is a brain disease found in individuals with annals of head trauma. It has specifically been found in athletes with numerous concussions. So far it can only be diagnosed in the deceased, but Dr. Julian Bales and his staff in UCLA have discovered symptoms in living players such as Hall of Famer Anthony “Tony” Dorsett, Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure, and NFL All-Pro Leonard Marshall. CTE can cause memory loss, dementia, depression, suicidal thoughts, cognitive and emotional difficulties (Waldron par 1, 2, 3). Is it a compelling issue? A total of 171 concussions were reported in the NFL in the 2012-2013 season; 88 thus far in the 2013-2014 season (Frontline pt). Those are just numbers in the professional level. There are thousands of kids playing football either in youth, middle school, high school, or college level. The diagnosis is currently in progress, researchers are optimistic this could lead to a legitimate treatment, how to manage, and hopefully a cure. Furthermore, this can also possibly lead to an answer to a connection between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Junior Seau, Mike Webster, Terry Long, and Justin Strzelczyk (all of whom are dead now) are all men who played in the NFL for an extent period of time. This is not the only thing they have in common. These former players had an uncustomary

While examining his brain, they found the first case of CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in a football player (Ezell). Dr. Omalu continued into the brains of football players. He diagnost another player with CTE. After that, two other doctors connect concussions to dementia. Dr. Bailes and Dr. Guskiewicz wrote, “that the onset of dementia-related syndromes may be initiated by repetitive cerebral concussions in professional football players” (Ezell). This was the first major finding connecting football to brain injuries.

The NFL: League of Denial, written by Mark and Steve Fainaru is one of the first books to publicly question the NFL’s concussion protocol. The book was originally produced as a documentary on PBS, which aired in 2010. The two authors, Mark and Steve Fainaru are ESPN reporters, and brothers. Steve Fainaru formerly worked as a war reporter in Iraq, while Mark Fainaru primarily focused on sports journalism. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mark Fairnaru describes the book as documenting "pretty extensively two decades worth of denial by the league to basically bury the concussion issue as anything serious for the sport" (Chicago Tribune). The two authors became interested in the concussion crisis in the NFL after reading the research of Dr. Bennet Omalu. Dr. Bennet Omalu is a Nigerian, now American Medical Doctor, Forensic Pathologist, Professor, Medical Examiner, but most importantly, the discoverer of the connection between the brain disease, CTE and sports-related concussions. The book focuses on Dr. Omalu, and the case of former NFL player, Mike Webster, and his football related injuries, which later led to his death.

That is when the first person had to retire due to post concussion syndrome. His name was Al Toon and played for the New York Jets. After he retired, some others started to retire because of the same post concussion syndrome. This made Paul Taglibaue create a committee called the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee in 1994. In 2002, Dr. Omalu had identified the first CTE in the brain of Mike Webster, who was a football player. “Omalu was the first doctor to identify CTE in a football player, “ (Library, 2016). Then in 2005 and 2006, Omalu had identified CTE in more football players. Once this started to happen more frequently in 2007 the NFL came up with new guidelines based on these concussions. In 2010, Goodell, the commissioner at the time, told all teams that there were going to be suspensions to people who violate playing rules that put the safety of others at risk. This was mainly about the hits that are taken to the head and neck. In 2014 alone, 14 players sue the NFL over these concussions. “In 2015 the judge lets the agreement of 5 million dollars per retired player for serious medical conditions associated with repeated head trauma.”(Library,2016). Through out these years many suicides happened due to CTE, such as Terry Long, Andre Waters, Dave Duerson, Ray Easterling, Junior Seau, Belcher, and Freel. These are only some, but there are many others who have given up their life because of the head trauma they got by playing football. The NFL

David Duerson’s family, the family of a legend, found Duerson dead in his home, with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the chest (Bartholet). Duerson had won two championship rings, named first team All-Pro by three sources, received the NFL Man of the Year Award, and held an NFL record for 19 years (Bartholet). So why would this amazing man with a life of accomplishments commit suicide? Doctors wanted to find out. Duerson had sent his family a text message that he wanted his brain to be donated to research for concussions caused by professional football. In his final months, Duerson had complained to his family about his declining mental state. After his death, researchers found that Duerson had a disease found in many ex-professional football players, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by concussions (Bartholet).

In the movie concussion starring Will Smith, who played Dr. Bennet Omalu, they wouldn’t let him speak at conferences about his findings. The NFL threatened him to stop or they’d hurt him and his wife who was pregnant with their son. Early in the 2000’s they had a highlight reel on Sportscenter of people getting knocked out from huge hits. After the concussion news came out they got rid of it to get rid of evidence. The NFL also had players with brain damage hide it and tell the people nothing was wrong. Teams also took star players and gave them smelling salts and put them back in the game with concussions so they couldn’t leave the game. If the players stayed in the game, it wouldn’t look bad to outsiders. This author concludes that the NFL went out of their way to hide this from the

After his retirement, he was suffering from amnesia, depression, and dementia. He lived out in his old pickup truck and died of heart attack at the age of 50. The problem was that after the examination, I did not find any abnormalities of the brain whatsoever. I decided to do a self-financed, independent research and analysis of his brain tissue. It costed me a fortune, but it did pay off and I did make a startling discovery. Mike Webster suffered from a degenerative brain disease which I later named CTE. After I presented my discovery to the public, many fans loathed me and I was officially fighting a war against the NFL. In June of 2007, I was invited to a NFL concussion summit and I was planning to present a medical paper I had written back in 2005 on CTE. When I arrived at the summit, I was informed that I wasn’t allowed to speak. I was really disappointed, but Julian Bailes a friend who also assisted me in the discovery of CTE, presented the paper. Unfortunately the paper was turned down and the committee said that there’s not enough evidence and our research was fallacious. Despite the NFL’s denial, I continued to push forward and put more effort into examinations on former players, which costed a lot of money and time. I performed further autopsies on Terry Long, who played eight seasons in the NFL, and Justin Strzelczyk, who played nine seasons and passed away at just the age of 36. Both of these players suffered similar

In chapter 12 “Oddball” Laskas introduces a new external conflict Dr. Omalu experiences as he receives a new boss at work. Dr. Omalu’s new external conflict would go on to affect his work and role in the concussion issue as shown by the following excerpt “I moved swiftly and obtained signed consents from Webster’s family and Long’s wife for the brains which were fixing in formalin in my office. Still Dr. Williams refused to release the brains to me” (Laskas 196). Through explanation and introduction of the other conflicts Bennet Omalu faced during his life, the reader can observe how each conflict affected his role and research in the concussion

Concussions and their side effects are traumatic to any player of the National Football League, not just at the time of the incident, but symptoms can last a lifetime and can in reality end a career. Results of these concussions not only affect themselves but the people around them including loved ones. “Since 2012 there have been 967 diagnosed concussions, and that includes preseason, regular-season practices plus games and postseason” (CNN 2014). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), develops after multiple traumatic brain injuries and have led to former players and current to commit suicide. “Junior Seau, 43, a former linebacker shot himself in the chest, former Atlanta safety Ray Easterling, and former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson commits suicide by gunshot wound to the chest” (CNN 2014). Rather than shoot his head they shot themselves in the chest so that their brain can be used in Concussion and CTE research. Once a player gets a concussion, the likelihood of another increases, so and so forth. However, it is not just a running back or a nose tackle that can get this horrific injury, its anyone, it could be a kicker, a coach on the sideline; anyone that hits the ground too hard, or has head to head contact. Though the National Football League has become aware of this injury over the years and have implemented many protocols, that is not enough. This is a

According to “NFL concussion statistics” Comparing 50 concussion patients with the same number of healthy people, researchers found that the brains of those suffering concussions showed abnormalities four months later. This happened despite the fact that their symptoms had already eased to some degree. Five days before the movie Concussion hit theater, one of the NFL’s brightest young stars took a running start and launched himself head-first at the earhole of an opponent’s helmet.This was one

Dr. Benett Omalu, a forensic pathologist, was the one who brought attention to concussions through his research on chromic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is brain degeneration suffered by professional football players. During his research, Dr. Omalu performed an autopsy on former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Mike Webster and the initial evaluation showed no abnormalities. Eventually, through more research, Dr. Omalu found the problem in the build-up of tau proteins, which he saw while examining pieces of Webster’s brain under a microscope, leading to a groundbreaking diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. Omalu published his discovery in a journal and as other athletes experience the same diagnosis, Dr. Omalu took it upon himself to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma. Finally, concussion injuries were starting to be taken seriously; efforts were being made to help stop concussions from occurring at all levels.

The 2015 film “Concussion” is where Dr. Omalu (a.k.a. Will Smith), a Nigerian immigrant, discovers Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and battles against the National Football League (NFL) to come out and say they were wrong. Assuming that the NFL has access to credible research that linked football-related concussions to permanent, hidden long-term brain injury to the players, many unethical decisions were made. By failing to disclose this information to the players, the NFL used the Front Page Test and Utilitarian Ethics. The Front Page Test is about how you or your company looks to the world and your reputation.

Dr. Omalu was a perfect example of how a health professional can be an advocate for this particular issue. You always have to have your patient’s best interest in mind and continue to fight for that until others realize that that is the right thing to do. And I think that is how it will impact my future as a nursing professional and my practice. I must always advocate for my patients whether other people understand that or not. Also, I should continue to look for a solution to a problem until I find the answer. I could not find an article by the American Nurses Association on this specific topic of concussions and

Concussion, the biographical sports drama, is a movie directed by Peter Landesman. It is based on a true story of a Nigerian doctor named Dr. Bennet Omalu who is played by Will Smith. Finding his way into America as a surgeon, he encountered and diagnosed a former American Football player after their death. Dr. Bennet has to faced against a billion dollar organization, the national Football League, in order to justify his researches and enforce it to be publicity.The movie shows hardship and unfairness of the football company to Dr. Bennet Omalu. This movie have three particular points that audience should consider and notice. Director, Peter Landesman, was able to created the movie in a realistic and reliable way to the scenes. Though the movie was realistic, certain parts of the movie was out of context and confusing. Especially the actor expressions and feelings toward each other, they did not successfully execute properly to make it believable. It is an amazing and educated two hours movie, yet it felt as if there are missing scenes in the movie.