Will Smith truly loved American football. Then one 2015 movie changed everything

Will Smith’s work portraying Nigerian American pathologist Dr Bennett Omalu in a 2015 film about brain injuries in American football changed how he viewed the sport. After learning about Omalu’s research into the effects of repeated head impacts, Smith said he struggled to reconcile the findings with his love of football and his memories of watching his son play.

Omalu’s research linked repeated blows to the head with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain condition, and cited former players who had experienced serious mental health problems. The article says the NFL tried to suppress the findings, while many members of the public were reluctant to accept them. Smith said he had not watched a game that season because he could no longer ignore the repeated impacts.