A new Will Smith movie could blow the lid off a major health crisis in the NFL

Ten years ago, Bennet Omalu, a Pittsburgh pathologist, published a blockbuster paper after examining the brain of a retired NFL player. At the time, Omalu's conclusions were based on just that single autopsy, but the results were potentially explosive, suggesting for the first time that all that helmet-smashing in football might be leaving players' brains with lifelong, sometimes crippling damage.

The brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), had been known to affect boxers for decades, but Omalu was the first to suggest that football players could be at risk. "Concussion," a new movie starring Will Smith, tells the story of Omalu and his fight to publicize the risks of CTE - which he discovered in more and more players - in the face of significant pushback from the NFL. 

Here's the trailer:

The movie is based on "Game Brain," a 2009 GQ article by Jeanne Marie Laskas which came out just as other researchers were building on and confirming Omalu's findings. Since then, research on CTE has exploded. While much is still unknown, here's how the CTE Center at Boston University describes the disease:

The repeated brain trauma triggers progressive degeneration of the brain tissue, including the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau. The brain degeneration is associated with common symptoms of CTE including memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, suicidality, parkinsonism, and eventually progressive dementia. These symptoms often begin years, or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement.

As Vox notes - and the trailer shows - the NFL at first reacted with denial before eventually getting on board to try and make football safer, something not everyone agrees is possible.

Some researchers have questioned whether CTE is indeed a distinct disease, and while critics call that contention "preposterous," all agree that more controlled research is needed. A review earlier this summer noted that "at present, there are no nationally or internationally agreed upon neuropathological or clinical diagnostic criteria for CTE."

The movie "Concussion" will bring the heated controversy - and the many potential dangers of football - to a much wider audience.