Following the release of the movie Concussion, which stars Will Smith, the National Football League (NFL) has finally admitted for the first time that there is a connection between head trauma caused by playing football and brain injuries like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

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In a Katie Couric special, Illinois Representative Jan Schakowsky asked Jeff Miller, the senior vice president of the NFL's Health and Safety department, if the connection has already been established, and Miller confirmed it.

Boston University CTE Program Director Dr. Ann McKee aids that CTE is seen among individuals who have repeatedly injured their heads and usually within the long run. She added that individuals suffering from CTE experience memory problems and behavioral issues like severe irritability and depression.

Smith's film shows the case of NFL Hall of Fame champion Mike Webster (Pittsburgh Steelers) who died of heart attack at the age of 50. Upon Omalu's (character played by Smith) examination and an autopsy of the football star's brain, the degenerative brain disease was discovered.

Former Steelers physician Dr. Julian Bailes said that they have, in fact, always known that players could suffer from concussions and the effect could later damage their careers forever. What they did not realize until Webster's case, however, was that players could actually incur brain injuries or unknown concussions and later on have neurological diseases and memory-related problems like dementia. Dr. Bailes added that the Webster case was a "sea of change" for them.

Dr. McKee warns the public, however, that not only football players can get affected by CTE. She notes that the degenerative disease also happens in cocker, baseball, wrestling, hockey, and boxing.

In a recent New York Times editorial writing penned by Dr. Omalu, he stated that children should not even be allowed to play sports that risk head injuries. He suggested that parents must wait for their kids to grow up and be warned about the effects of CTE first and then be allowed to decide for themselves.

On a brighter note, the NFL said it has already been implementing several changes to address the safety and security of its players including stricter concussion, medical, and training procedures and protocols. The league attributes the 34 percent drop in concussion incidents recorded since 2012 to these protocols. 

Tagsbennett omalu, NFL, national football league, Pittsburgh Steelers, Will Smith, will smith concussion, concussion film, concusison movie