Reaction To League Of Denial

League of Denial, a PBS documentary detailing the NFL's reaction to its concussion crisis, has create a great amount of controversy across the sports world. In the film, the cases of several former NFL players are examined in order to clearly show a correlation between football and brain injuries. The first player detailed is Mike Webster, a former Steeler's All-Pro who played in the NFL for more than 15 years. Webster died in 2002 after his mental state had deteriorated beyond what any person his age should. His brain was examined by Dr. Bennet Omalu, who expected to discover a brain that showed symptoms of Alzheimer's. Instead, Omalu found a normal looking brain that he could diagnose with chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. The documentary revealed that CTE was the common link between NFL players that suffered major brain injuries and struggled later in their lives.

Despite a variety of public opinions, League of Denial was successful in bringing attention to an issue that the NFL has gone out of its way to ignore. It focuses on how playing in the NFL can have detrimental effects on its players and hinder them for the rest of their lives. The fact that players such as Mike Webster and Junior Seau displayed such similar symptoms within their brain is telling. Brain injuries in football are a serious issue that needs to be addressed. Of the four major sports in America, football is the one that is facing this crisis head on. The NBA, while it is presently preoccupied with a variety of issues, does not have to deal with head on collisions for the most part.