The upcoming film Concussion will highlight the partnership between Dr. Bennet Omalu and Dr. Julian Bailes, whose expertise and persistence forced the NFL to admit the existence of Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy, setting the stage for pro football to take the problem of head injuries as seriously as it should.
Less than three weeks for the release of the film, the co-protagonists seem to be at odds on the risks of head injuries among youth football players.
Bailes recently has downplayed the risk of non-NFL players developing CTE. “This is like smoking so many packs of cigarettes,” Bailes said last month. “I think it is the exposure through the years and I think it’s primarily ones that have played many, many years. I think [CTE is] a very low risk [for college football players]. I think there have only been a small handful reported, found at autopsy to have these changes and, I think, the real risk is not in high school or college or youth.”
Omalu (pictured), in a recent op-ed published by the New York Times, strikes a far different tone.
“If a child who plays football is subjected to advanced radiological and neurocognitive studies during the season and several months after the season, there can be evidence of brain damage at the cellular level of brain functioning, even if there were no documented concussions or reported symptoms,” Omalu writes. “If that child continues to play over many seasons, these cellular injuries accumulate to cause irreversible brain damage, which we know now by the name [CTE], a disease that I first diagnosed in 2002.”
Bailes serves as the Medical Director of Pop Warner Football, the leading youth football organization in America. So he presumably disagrees.
Later today, Bailes is conducting a conference call with the media. Chances are this topic will be addressed.