Concussion is an upcoming film starring Will Smith depicting the devastating impact football has on the human brain and the life-threatening problems that accompany head injuries, as well as the National Football League’s attempt to cover up these facts. The film follows Dr. Bennet Omalu (Smith) and his research into and discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, which is a degenerative disease resulting from numerous concussions and other head trauma. CTE is very prevalent in contact professional sports, and can lead to symptoms like loss of memory, depression, or dementia.

The reason CTE is such a trending topic in today’s media is the tragic deaths of professional athletes and others possibly resulting from the disease. In 2012, linebacker Jovan Belcher of the Kanas City Chiefs killed his girlfriend, and eventually himself at Kanas City’s stadium in front of the general manager and head coach. Many fear that this was the result of the degenerative effects of CTE, which he was confirmed to have had, and that his neurological state was ignored by team staff.

Also in 2012, retired Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide as well, again later determined to possibly be the result of CTE. These are some of the higher profile cases in the past few years, but there has been a dramatic amount of current and former players diagnosed with CTE and a significant amount have died, possibly as a result of the disease.

In an effort to acquire the medical help they need, as well as institute awareness of CTE in football and sports in general, thousands of former players have collectively sued the NFL. They are claiming they did not know the affects that football would have on their long term mental health, that former players aren’t nearly as well compensated as they are now and cannot afford to seek medical treatment, and that the NFL deliberately misled the public and the players and concealed information about CTE and its affects.

That leads us back to the film. The issue of CTE and the mental health of athletes often flares up when there is a death like Junior Seau’s or Jovan Belcher’s, but eventually dies out as anticipation for being entertained by the games always outweighs the issues of the athletes playing them. The question here is: will the film lead to significant change in professional football, and contact sports in general, to combat CTE?

I believe the film will again spark interest, but I do not believe there will be significant short-term change to the NFL in particular. Why? I believe this because the NFL is one of the highest money generating leagues in the world with the highest average game attendance in the world. The NFL is a product almost everyone in the United States consumes, and despite the recent reporting of CTE, the league has only gotten more popular. Many will argue that it is hard to feel bad for these players, as even the minimum salary for a player far exceeds the average American, and certainly everyone knows that slamming your head into another person for a living cannot be good for you. Those are definitely fair points that are utilized to shift blame away from the NFL and onto the players themselves.

So who is at fault for CTE here? Is it the NFL, or is it the players themselves? I personally believe it is a combination of the two. The NFL undoubtedly used unethical and immoral methods to cover up the existence of CTE. The players undoubtedly understand that their profession is one that is extremely damaging to the body, both physically and mentally, and saying otherwise would be foolish. As a person who played football my entire life and received quite a few concussions, it’s literally impossible that players don’t understand the risk. Also, in terms of the former players not receiving the same compensation that is offered now and wanting money for the deception they received from the NFL, there is no way the NFL could have known they would be this popular and successful. Also, the players agreed to contracts in the past and collective bargaining agreements with the NFL that will be difficult to maneuver around. I do believe both sides are at fault, and as a result, I think both sides will settle in order for the NFL to save face and the players to leave with a little cash.

Will football eventually be significantly changed? Yes, I think that we won’t be watching the same league twenty years from now. Safety is going to be severely pushed when a whole new generation enters the league, and this isn’t going to be the league we are used to watching currently on Sunday. And although I stated that the film Concussion won’t cause significant change in the short term, it will certainly be yet another domino to fall that will lead to the inevitable change in the future.

Here is the trailer for Concussion, which comes out December 25^th, 2015.