This piece, written by running back Justin Forsett, was originally featured on sportsblog.com.
As you probably know, I've had a little extra time on my hands these days (will talk more about my injury update in my next post), and I've been able to take advantage of a couple cool opportunities.
Earlier this week, I ventured into Washington, D.C. (by metro) for a day of job shadowing at the NFLPA offices. It was a great experience! I got one-on-one time with several department heads and had the chance to sit in on a bunch of meetings.
Then, last night, thanks to an invitation from the NFLPA, my wife and I went to the D.C. screening of the new movie 'Concussion,' which comes out on Christmas Day. It was date night, so we stopped for dinner at District Taco. My wife loves Mexican food, but we thought the meal was just okay. BUT, the savior was dessert at one of my favorite restaurants, Mastro's. The butter cake! It's amazing!
Now I'm going to get my film critic on. I'll start by saying that it was definitely a powerful movie. It was eye opening in a lot of ways and I think every player needs to see it. I also think it would be good for fans to see a movie like this to kind of take the helmet off the players and kind of think of them as more than the guys you see on Sunday. There are other things we battle with as players, and I think this movie gives a glimpse into that.
I already knew about a lot of the aspects of the movie because we know the risks involved when we play this game. But I didn't realize the process that Dr. Omalu, the Nigerian neuropathologist who first discovered CTE (a football-related brain issue), went through to bring this to the forefront. Without giving too much away, I'll reiterate that it was eye opening. Dr. Omalu was in attendance at the screening and took questions from the audience after the movie, which was cool.
I think Will Smith did a great job. I'm not African, so I can't speak to the accuracy of his accent, but it sounded good to me. It's pretty hard to go wrong with Will Smith in a leading role. But, Dr. Omalu looks nothing like him. I think someone like Don Cheadle would have been a closer match.
It was a great night out with the wife, and I encourage everyone to go see this movie!
