It started with an article Jeanne Marie Laskas wrote for GQ magazine titled “Game Brain.” She helped to publicly expose the work of forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered the brain disease CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) that many NFL football players/retirees were dying from, some committing suicide over.
Omalu’s story began when Mike Webster, aka “Iron Mike,” a Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers died suddenly. He performed the autopsy and started doing exhaustive research, paying for tests on Webster’s brain out of his own pocket, to try to figure out what made this former NFL player go mad. “What Omalu discovered in Mike Webster’s brain—proof that Iron Mike’s mental deterioration was no accident, but a disease caused by relentless blows to the head that could affect everyone playing the game—was the one truth the NFL would do anything to keep secret.” (Back cover book.)
MVCC Library has Laskas’s book Concussion, which is based on her GQ article. We also have the DVD motion picture adaptation of the same name, starring Will Smith (as Dr. Omalu). As a librarian who does not enjoy sports, I can tell you the movie and book look riveting! Check them both out in tandem if you’d like. The book is located here in our catalog, and the DVD is located here (both for a limited time located in the main floor lounge area).
Also, check out Laskas’s original GQ article here. 