Columnist: "Concussion" Offers Compelling Story, But It Is "Not The Death Knell Of Football"

The upcoming film "Concussion" is a "compelling story, absolutely worthy of a couple hours of our attention over the holidays, but it’s not the death knell of football as we know it," according to Christine Brennan of USA TODAY. Brennan: "If you can’t stand NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell going into the theater, you’ll still dislike him coming out of it. If you love your football and don’t want the rules to change too much and the game to become too 'soft,' as it were, you’ll probably feel the same way after the movie." That is because, while the film "feels fresh and vibrant, it’s based on old news" (USA TODAY, 12/4). In DC, Clinton Yates writes it is "hard to believe that the league still looks this bad even after a report in September that Sony altered the film to eliminate some of its more 'unflattering moments.'" The film "serves as a quasi-love letter to the city of Pittsburgh and overcomes some major flaws to send a striking message about America’s favorite game." The story "is compelling enough to make the audience believe that on many levels, the NFL is a deplorable business," and it is "Hollywood-ized just enough to keep things moving without being too boring." Yates: "This is far from a documentary" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/4).

LIABILITY, NOT LONGEVITY: In DC, Sally Jenkins writes the heart of the NFL’s concussion problem "is not that players hide symptoms; it’s a compensation structure that forces them to play hurt, or get cut." NFL management "invariably ducks its failures on health and safety by framing injuries as something for which players signed up, and for which they are ultimately responsible." If a QB "gets CTE down the line, it’s his fault for not self-reporting and the fault of the other players who hit him." The NFL "tolerates, and even tacitly encourages, a lack of professionalism when it comes to medical misconduct." Jenkins: "What good are 'protocols' if there aren’t any consequences for anyone when they’re not followed?" Until a team doctor and coach "are suspended for leaving a wobbly player in a game, then all the spotters and independent neurologists in the world are just window-dressing." And it will "remain clear what the NFL management’s interest really is: liability, not player longevity" (WASHINGTON POST, 12/4).