While it now appears that the NFL didn’t try to muzzle the family of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Junior Seau in order to avoid a potential concussion-related embarrassment, the NFL already is making plans for the potential concussion-related embarrassment that it never will be able to silence.
Per a league source, owners spent significant time at their May 2015 meeting discussing how to deal with and respond to the movie Concussion, which has a planned release date of December 25.
Produced by a group including Ridley Scott, Concussion stars Will Smith at Dr. Bennet Omalu and Alec Baldwin as Dr. Julian Bailes. The list of characters suggests that the film will focus on the tragic endings to the lives of Mike Webster, Andre Waters, and Justin Strzelczyk.
While that may not be the subject matter on which American movie-goers will choose to spend their 2015 holiday season, the Columbia Pictures offering will put the concussion crisis squarely into the minds of mainstream America, in a way that could make football fans feel differently about the NFL — and that could cause more parents to steer more kids away from playing football.
As Christmas presents go, the NFL undoubtedly would prefer a can of Simoniz.