''League of Denial'' is a 2013 book, initially broadcast as a documentary film, about
traumatic brain injury
A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic br ...
in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), particularly
concussions
A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...
and
chronic traumatic encephalopathy
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...
(CTE). The documentary, entitled ''League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis'', was produced by ''
Frontline
Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield.
Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to:
Books and publications
* ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant
* ''Frontlines ...
'' and broadcast on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
. The book was written by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
reporters
Mark Fainaru-Wada
Mark Fainaru-Wada is an American journalist and writer, working for ESPN since 2007. He formerly was a reporter with the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', where he and Lance Williams achieved fame in covering the BALCO steroid scandal. He is co-auth ...
and
Steve Fainaru
Steve Fainaru ( ro, Făinaru; born 1962) is an American investigative journalist and senior writer for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine''. He was previously a correspondent for the ''Washington Post'', where his coverage of the Iraq War earned him ...
. The book and film devote significant attention to the story of
Mike Webster
Michael Lewis Webster (March 18, 1952September 24, 2002) was an American professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) from 1974 to 1990 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. He is a membe ...
and his football-related brain injuries, and the pathologist who examined Webster's brain,
Bennet Omalu. The film also looks closely at the efforts of researchers led by
Ann McKee
Ann McKee (born 1953) is a neuropathologist and expert in neurodegenerative disease at the New England Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VISN-1) and is professor of neurology and pathology at Boston University School of Medicine and director of ...
at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...
's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, where the brains of a number of former NFL athletes have been examined.
Production
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
had originally been a partner in the project, but backed out later claiming a lack of editorial control. There was speculation that this was due to pressure from the NFL. Although ESPN pulled out of the documentary project, they remain involved in the book deal, including promoting the book on their website, and airing excerpts from the documentary on the program ''
Outside the Lines''.
During the documentary, Omalu recalled a discussion with an NFL doctor while reviewing Webster's case. Omalu said the NFL doctor told him "Bennett, do you know the implications of what you're doing? If 10 percent of mothers in this country would begin to perceive football as a dangerous sport, that is the end of football." ''Frontline'' in 2010 produced a documentary on
health issues in youth sports with a focus on repeated concussions and subconcussive blows in high school football.
The documentary received a
Peabody Award in 2013.
Critical response
Response to the documentary was positive, with many reviewers commenting on how powerful it was, and how it may change their views of football going forward, although noting that much of the information had been written about or shown before.
![The crew of FRONTLINE-League of Denial at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/The_crew_of_FRONTLINE-League_of_Denial_at_the_73rd_Annual_Peabody_Awards.jpg)
Michael Humphrey from ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' wrote that "to deny the implications of the show and not, at the very least, take that potential hypocrisy very seriously, would be delusional. If I keep watching
ootball it is at my own ethical risk. And I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do." ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'' wrote that "There is not a ton of brand-new such evidence in the documentary" but that "What is groundbreaking about League of Denial, rather, is the cleanness, coherence, and conciseness of the storytelling".
Sean Gregory of ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' wrote that it was "a first-rate piece of reporting." The ''
New York Daily News'' said "The only problem with the much-touted ''Frontline'' investigative report ''League of Denial'' is that it probably should have been subtitled "Nation of Denial". Kevin McFarland of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' wrote "''League Of Denial'' provides an excellent, mandatory two-hour overview of the rise in research on this subject." and "Football is a dead sport walking in the United States. It may look healthy, vibrant, and more profitable than ever. But in a few generations it will be a flimsy husk of itself at its height. The damning evidence is all here in ''League Of Denial''." ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' wrote "if this documentary made even a sliver of the league's fans, personnel and fellow media stop and reflect for a few hours Tuesday night, it was well worth the exercise."
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said "The program doesn't give the league much credit for recent rule changes and other safety initiatives, instead underscoring its continuing reluctance to acknowledge a link between the sport and brain injuries and its reliance on language that pushes any day of reckoning into the future." and "Much of this has already been reported, with
Alan Schwarz
Alan Schwarz (born July 3, 1968) is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and author, formerly at ''The New York Times'', best known for writing more than 100 articles that exposed the National Football League's cover-up of concussions and brought the ...
of ''The New York Times'' often leading the way, but the program will certainly be eye-opening for anyone—especially parents with children of Pop Warner league age—who hasn't followed the subject closely or seen ''The United States of Football'', a documentary released in August."
NFL senior vice president of health and safety policy Jeff Miller said "
or two decades the league has been aleader in addressing the issue of head injuries in a serious way" and "By any standard, the NFL has made a profound commitment to the health and safety of its players that can be seen in every aspect of the game, and the results have been both meaningful and measurable."
See also
* ''
Head Games'', documentary and book by
Christopher Nowinski on repeated trauma in
contact sport
Contact sports are sports that emphasize or require physical contact between players. Some sports, such as mixed martial arts, are scored on impacting an opponent, while others, including rugby football, gridiron football and Australian rules fo ...
*
Concussions in sport
Concussions, a type of mild traumatic brain injury, are a frequent concern for those playing sports, from children and teenagers to professional athletes. Repeated concussions are a known cause of various neurological disorders, most notably chr ...
*
Dementia pugilistica
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...
*
Helmet-to-helmet collision
* ''
Concussion''
*
List of American football films
The following is a list of American football films.
See also
* List of sports films
* List of highest grossing sports films
Notes
References
{{American football in the United States
American football
Films
A film also ...
References
External links
''Frontline'': "League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis"PBS site for the documentary, where it can be viewed for free.
* {{IMDb title, 3013938, League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis
2013 non-fiction books
2013 television films
2013 films
2013 documentary films
American football books
American football controversies
Documentary films about American football
History of American football
National Football League controversies
Neurotrauma
Peabody Award-winning broadcasts
2010s American films
Crown Publishing Group books