With the Super Bowl coming up, we as New Englanders can't help but be excited about watching the game on Sunday. But even as we start planning our food & drink spreads, our minds can't help but turn toward the darker side of football – i.e. the brain injuries, like CTE, that occur in players through their participation in the sport.
The discovery of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, was dramatized in the film Concussion, where Will Smith portrays the discoverer of CTE, Dr. Bennett Omalu. The film follows Dr. Omalu as he goes from discovering the disease in ex-athletes, to working to raise public awareness of the disease.
The film only served to pique our curiosity, and we followed it down the rabbit hole right to the source itself – Dr. Omalu. We were lucky enough to get to sit down with him for a conversation on CTE, the life of a Forensic Pathologist – and what he thinks about the NFL. His answer may surprise you:
Can't get enough of the concepts behind forensic pathology? Check out Waking the Dead. Led by the commanding Trevor Eve (who you may remember from Masterpiece's Unforgotten or Death Comes to Pemberley) the Waking the Dead cast investigates a variety of cases, from arsonists to stalkers, gangsters and more. Each story is covered in a two episode arc, leaving plenty of room for the relationships, stresses, and character development of our main cast. And all nine seasons are up on WGBH Passport and ready to binge.
Want more on CTE and the NFL? Check out Frontline's award-winning League of Denial. A two-hour investigation on the NFL's awareness of and intelligence around brain injuries, League investigates just how culpable this multi-billion dollar industry is for players lives post-game.
And if you just want to get to the brighter side of the Super Bowl, check out our collection of Superbowl recipes, an interview with our own in-house Tom Brady, and just how WGBH is participating in Super Bowl.
