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Saturday, December 19, 2015

Will Smith: Movie "Concussion" touches raw nerve for NFL

(CNN) By now, even the most casual NFL fans are aware that head injuries are a serious cause for concern in the sport. But this Christmas the Hollywood blockbuster "Concussion" is set to spread that message to the masses.

"I probably won't be getting my free Super Bowl tickets this year," said actor Will Smith, who plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the man who discovers the link between the sport and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

As a noted Philadelphia Eagles fan and parent of a former high school football star -- Smith once traveled between China and Los Angeles for 10 straight weeks to watch son Trey compete -- the actor admitted feeling conflicted about the film.

But meeting Nigerian-born Omalu convinced him that the story needed to be told.

"Dr. Omalu is an immigrant, and a big part of why he fought so hard to have this information come out is because he believes in America and American ideals," Smith told CNN's Rachel Nichols ahead of the movie's U.S. release next week.

"I believe firmly in the ideas and in the concepts of what this country stands for, and I'm impelled and compelled to do whatever I have to do to make sure they aren't trampled upon."

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

All of us make life choices,and if a person chooses to play football or any concussion prone sport that is their choice.Treating the NFL situation as if an injustice has been done to the players is ridiculous.Almost all of us have seen ex boxers referred to as "punch drunk" because of blows to the head.Aside from wearing a helmet,why would the NFL situation be any different?

Anonymous said...

I wonder if this is a precursor to Smith's run for president and I guess he'll fight it out with Kanye West or maybe they will run as a ticket

Anonymous said...

This is just another angle to attack the NFL first it was racist names now concussions. The Liberal / Progressives want to tear down America and rebuild it in their vision of how it should be.