Concussion

by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Will Smith, Concussion is the riveting, unlikely story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the pathologist who made one of the most significant medical discoveries of the twenty-first century, a discovery that challenges the existence of America’s favorite sport and puts Omalu in the crosshairs of football’s most powerful corporation: the NFL.
 
In September of 2002, in a dingy morgue in downtown Pittsburgh, a young forensic neuropathologist named Bennet Omalu picked up a scalpel and made a discovery that would rattle America in ways he never intended. Omalu was new to America, chasing the dream, a deeply spiritual man escaping the wounds of civil war in Nigeria. The body on the slab in front of him belonged to a fifty-year-old named Mike Webster—aka “Iron Mike”—a Hall of Fame center for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the greatest to ever play the game. After retiring in 1990, Webster had suffered a dizzyingly steep decline. Toward the end of his life, he was living out of his van, Tasering himself to relieve his chronic pain, and fixing his rotting teeth with Super Glue. How did this happen? Omalu asked himself. How did a young man like Mike Webster end up like this? The search for answers would change Omalu’s life forever and put him in the crosshairs of one of the most powerful corporations in America: the National Football League. What Omalu discovered in Mike Webster’s brain—proof that his 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.
 
Taut, gripping, and gorgeously told, Concussion is the stirring true story of one unlikely man’s courageous decision to stand up to a multibillion-dollar colossus bent on silencing him, and to tell the world the truth.
 
Advance praise for Concussion
 
“The story of Dr. Bennet Omalu’s battle against the NFL is classic David and Goliath stuff, and Jeanne Marie Laskas—one of my favorite writers on earth—makes it as exciting as any great courtroom or gridiron drama. A riveting, powerful human tale—and a master class on how to tell a story.”—Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit
 
“Bennet Omalu forced football to reckon with head trauma. The NFL doesn’t want you to hear his story, but Jeanne Marie Laskas makes it unforgettable. This book is gripping, eye-opening, and full of heart.”—Emily Bazelon, author of Sticks and Stones


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Biography, Science, Medical, Medicine, Football

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Jeanne Marie Laskas is an American writer and professor.

From 1994 until 2008 she was a regular, syndicated columnist for The Washington Post Magazine, where her "Significant Others" essays appeared weekly. She has written feature stories for GQ, where she is a correspondent. Formerly a Contributing Editor at Esquire, her stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including Best American Sportswriting. She also is the voice behind "Ask Laskas" in Reader's Digest and writes the "My Life as a Mom" column for Ladies' Home Journal.

A professor in the creative writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, she lives in Scenery Hill, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY FRICKIN CRACKERS.... This is a MUST READ!!!!

**SOON TO BE A MOTION PICTURE starring WILL SMITH!

Dr. Bennet Omala, ( an interesting-inspiring man we get to know much about), was born in Nigeria. His 'own' history - family life - and
immigrating to America is a story worth reading in itself.

The bigger purpose in learning about Dr. Bennet ... ( this extraordinary man), is to read about his extraordinary medical discovery....(understanding & sadness about Mike Webster), and Dr. Bennet's fight to be heard.
This story is riveting-eye-opening- and I'm not sure how else to say it, but
'BLOOD BOILING EXCITING'!

Dr. Bennet discovered clumps in Mike Webster's brain. The clumps were buildups of a
protein called 'tau'. Tau belongs in a healthy human brain. It acts as a kind of lubricant. But in concentrated masses, it forms clumps called neurofibrillary tangles.
"Tau tangles were kind of like a sludge, clogging it works, killing healthy brain cells – – in this case cells in the regions of the brain responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning. This is why boxers went crazy. This is why Mike Webster went crazy, too".

This next quote gave me the chilly-willies...( I'll explain why I got the personal 'creeps' after the quote):
"Football players wear helmets, good protection for the skull. It would be reasonable to think that the brain would be spared damaging impact. But plenty of people knew that. Anybody who knew anything about the anatomy of the head knew better. It was a simple matter of physics.
The brain floats, is suspended in a kind of jelly inside the skull. If you hit the head hard enough,
that brain is going to move, no matter what kind of protection you put around the skull.
A helmet protects the skull. A helmet can't keep the brain from sloshing around in that skull.
If you hit your head hard enough, the brain goes bashing against the walls of the skull. Bennet
had seen plenty of cases of brains destroyed despite helmets".

My own husband had a serious concussion last November 9th, 2015....missing a jump during Mountain Biking.
Paul has never been quite the same since before the accident. (Better in recent months, but not the same as before). He has more memory loss. His 'first' experience with depression is just beginning to lift almost a year later. He still has more brain fog, and gets irritable more than he use too. His basic nature is 'easy-going' ...calm... peaceful. He is a problem-solving guy who doesn't usually get his boat rocked easily .....yet his accident created small noticeable changes. .....different than the prior 37 years.
He was found unconscious by 4 men. We never knew how long he was out.

Back to Jeanne Marie Laskas's book... "Concussion".
We learn a lot about concussions. Repeated concussions can cause cumulative injury in individuals over months or years. And once you got one concussion, you're more likely to get another.
NOTE: This book is about challenging a powerful corporation in America: the National
Football League---but even the ordinary person who has never touched a football in their life,
who has children - or just wants to understand more about what can happen to the brain
when you hit it hard ... will get tremendous value from reading this.

Yet, what about FOOTBALL? Why did the NFL ignore listening to what establish scientists were telling them about concussions?
And .... To make matters worse the doctor who makes the biggest discovery ...is a guy
from Nigeria. ( a guy who had never even heard of football).
How come - that even when Dr. Bennett ( from Nigeria or planet Pluto), could prove
Pathological findings were irrefutable - with concrete evidence- ( with slides, images, splotches
showing that repeated blows to the head sustained in football could cause specific
debilitating brain damage), would the NFL write so many words against "some no-name
Nigerian with some bullshit theory"?
Being in the courtroom in this story will keep you hanging on the edge of your seat!

Thank you to Random House, Netgalley, and my deep appreciation to Jeanne Marie Laskas....
This is an unforgettable story!

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

3.5 Stars

For those of you who know me, you are already aware I’m a mom of boys. (You’re also well aware of the fact that I don’t really write reviews of books, but more just ramble on about whatever I feel like and post a bunch of gifs, so this “review” should be par for the course.) My one experience with football looked a little something like this . . .



Yes. They are doing exactly what it looks like they are doing.

When our youngest was a tiny little pipsqueak he wanted to play football. Baseball season was over and he wanted to be able to see all of his little buddies (we live in a metro area, so our kids don’t usually go to school with their teammates) so we signed him up for peewee flag and ended up on a team that was known for being the best. It didn’t take long to realize that even the non-tackle division was a little cuckoo when it came to being competitive and the boys were encouraged to “lead with their heads” and “let us hear those helmets.” Now, this was before CTE was discovered and senate hearings were held, but as a mom I knew I didn’t like it. If they were expected to crack skulls in Kindergarten, how long would it be before this was the norm???



Yikes!

I wasn’t thinking about brain trauma, though. I mean, that’s what the helmet is for, right? I was thinking neck/spinal injury was likely to occur. Just look at the first picture above - those little fellas looked like bobble heads! Having all that extra weight on their neck was bound to cause whiplash, right?

Turns out neck (or knee or shoulders or back) injuries were quite possibly the last thing anyone should have been worried about and a conversation had already been going on since the early ‘90s about a potential life-altering concern – closed-head injuries. The man who brought it to everyone’s attention???



Iron Mike Webster, the best center in the NFL. A true monster of the midway who spent 15 years as a professional, played in four Super Bowls and eight consecutive Pro Bowls. A man who went from having it all to being someone who forgot to eat, who became lethargic, who peed in an oven and took up residence in a storage closet at Arrowhead Stadium, whose teeth started falling out and attempted to fix them by super glueing them back into his mouth, a man who could only get some sleep by tasering himself into unconsciousness. Iron Mike successfully sued the NFL in 1998 and was the first to win a claim for a football-related brain injury. When Mike Webster died a few years later of a heart attack at the age of 50, it was his brain that pathologist Bennet Omalu was interested in. He wanted to know what made Webster go crazy and suspected an underlying brain disease – and boy did he find one.

Concussion is the story about the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the fight to make it public knowledge, the massive tort case consisting of nearly 6,000 players suing the NFL for future benefits should they fall victim to the disease, the Senate hearings surrounding Big Tobacco the National Football League and the realization it wasn’t necessarily the big hits that caused the damage, it was the repetitive little hits (that amount to between 20-30 g’s on every play) . . . .



This was a horrifying yet fascinating read that I could not put down once I started. So, why the mediocre rating? Sadly, it’s because Omalu appears to suffer from a severe case of “God complex.” I was interested in the story about concussions and the truth about the potential for my no-longer-peewee-sized (but very much linebacker-sized) son to end up with a debilitating disease should he ever want to play. What I wasn’t interested in was more than a taste of Omalu’s life story and I really wasn’t interested in hearing about his bassackwards views on relationships and family or what seemed to be imagined slights due to his race. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Dr. Omalu has dealt with racism, but I believe him being overlooked in participating in particular discussions/hearings/lawsuits regarding CTE were due more to him being completely unlikeable rather than him being black. Good news is Concussion credited another book (League of Denial) that I hope will be one that gets more of the stars from me.

Many thanks to my friend Elyse for bring this story to my attention.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concussion is a powerful and thought provoking story! I highly recommend it!

Dr. Bennet Omalu was born in Nigeria in 1968. Bennet begrudgingly attends medical school as his father dictates and then decides to move to America. Once he discovers forensic pathology, Bennet sets out to get a job in Pittsburgh working with famed forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht.

The course of Dr. Omalu's life changed when he performed an autopsy on Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive lineman Mike Webster. After learning of Webster's unusual behavior in the years before his death, Dr. Omalu examined the brain suspecting brain trauma, but surprisingly everything appeared normal. Deciding to go against protocol, Dr. Omalu requests permission to save the brain. Upon reviewing cross sections of the brain under the microscope, he discovers "clumps" of tau, a naturally occurring protein in the brain. These tau tangles were even worse than the tangles found in patients with advanced Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Omalu named the condition CTE, "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy." He continued to find the same results in subsequent autopsies of former NFL players. Dr. Omalu must confront resistance from the NFL and faces prejudices against his work because of his race and national origin.

Some of Dr. Omalu's conclusions are truly frightening. He argues that helmets only prevent skull fractures and that because of physics and regardless of how much padding a helmet has, there is no way for a helmet to prevent the brain from bashing into the skull. Bennet's findings also suggest that "subconcussive collisions," or the accumulation of regular hits on every play, are the culprit of the damage.

This book left me feeling conflicted. Personally, I enjoy watching football, but I also knew that I never wanted my own son to participate in the sport. Fortunately, he chose soccer. I sincerely hope that scrutiny of safety precautions will continue to protect all players at every level.

Memorable quotes:

With dead people what you see is what you get and you can keep looking and looking and get more, and once you look inside the brain you find the story is beautiful in the way all things infinite are beautiful.

So many things about America would turn out like this, beautiful treasures just beyond your grasp that pop like balloons when you touch them, shrivel into rags.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid football fan it is hard to ignore the ongoing conversations of the serious effects of concussions, it has been all over the news shows and in the newspapers. This book however, I only hear about seeing the promos form the movie, shown on the television. Quite frankly I was afraid to read this book. The reason I was so afraid is that I have four sons who played football, three played in college and my youngest started in second grade and played for twelve years. I remember players getting up, one time my own son who was a quarterback, wavering and shaking their heads as they came off the field. Parents in the stands would say, "He had his bell rung." it was almost expected when playing certain positions and was just considered one of the hazards of the game. No big deal. Ignorance can be bliss.

Dr. Omalu from Nigeria, is a pathologist certified in four different areas of pathology, but his main area of interest is studying the brain. He makes a detrimental finding in the brain of Mike Webster, a linebacker who played with the Steelers and supposedly died of a heart attack at the age of fifty. He finds something that should never be found in a brain and this poor man suffered horribly before he died. Can you imagine tasering yourself for just a few minutes of pain relief? there is of course much more but too much to write here.

Dr. Omalu's life in Nigeria is also disclosed and is fascinating in itself. That he had the courage to take on the NFL and other major corporations may be a debt many current and upcoming football players may never be able to repay. Also interesting is his mentorship under Cyril Wecht, the pathologist of many acclaimed cases. Much is covered in this rather short book, quite a bit of it shocking.

So now I am still afraid for my sons, who are now young adults but at least I can say I am informed. I know what to look for if needed, maybe in time to get them help. Or so I hope.

ARC from Netgalley.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m very glad I had the chance to read Concussion, but my experience of it was equal parts edifying and frustrating, so I feel the need to write two separate reviews—one for the content, and one for the presentation.

Review #1

As you can probably guess, Concussion is an informative look at the now-indisputable (regardless of what the NFL says) fact that the repeated head injuries sustained in pro football do permanent damage to the brain in ways that later show up, heartbreakingly early, as dementia- and Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. But, worthy as that theme is, the book is about more than that. For me, it’s about the bravery and honor in standing up for the truth, even at great personal cost. It’s about how people in power are often willing to deny such truths, even at the expense of many lives, in order to hang on to their power and money. It’s about how unbelievably corrupt even vaunted organizations can be, and about how a few determined people can expose that corruption and effect positive change. The admiration I have for such determined people is difficult to put into words. Most of us (including, often, myself) would rather not stick our necks out like that; those who do deserve our respect and gratitude, not, as they often get, our scorn.

The book also paints an effective picture of the absurd, misogynistic, homophobic he-man culture that’s grown up around U.S. football. Check out these online reactions to the news that the NFL was (finally!) going to modify its rules in recognition of the danger of head injuries in the sport:

“Freaking women organs running this league.”
“The NFL is turning into a touch football ‘Nancy Boy’ league.”
“The pussyification of the NFL continues. Every single goddam year the rules get more and more VAGINIZED.”

That’s great. Just great. NFL football: come for the head injuries, stay for the antiquated attitudes. But, as this valuable book reminds us, knowledge is power. Now that we have the knowledge, what will we do with it?

****

Review #2

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t express my bewilderment at some of the choices Jeanne Marie Laskas made in writing this book. Quite simply, the language was often colloquial and casual in a way that seemed uncalled for and pulled me out of the story. I can’t figure out why Laskas decided to write some parts of the book this way—other parts contain more straightforward reporting that proves to be an extremely effective way to tell the tale. I would have much preferred if the entire book had been written that way.

The most questionable of Laskas’s choices seemed to occur when she was writing about the story’s main protagonist, Dr. Bennet Omalu. Dr. Omalu is not a native English speaker, and Laskas seems to be trying to write the story in his voice, even when Omalu isn’t actually speaking. Here’s one example of many:

When it [the medical journal containing his article] arrived in the mail, he held it gently in his hands, like it was parchment, like it was the original of the Declaration of Independence or something. Page 128. It was so handsome…. It had his name and all the others in bold stacked on the left above their dignified bona fides in fine print. The words SPECIAL REPORT appeared in a red banner across the top, the letters bleeding to a fade as if they were moving, as if they had just zoomed in on a top-secret mission. It was hard not to feel proud of something like that.

“Like it was the original of the Declaration of Independence or something”? “Top-secret mission”? Is Dr. Omalu a high school student? No, he isn’t, and in actual direct quotes he doesn’t sound like this at all. Laskas’s attempts to capture his voice, if that’s what she’s doing, are unconvincing and, to me, borderline offensive.

But Laskas doesn’t contain this odd voice to passages about Dr. Omalu. Here she is describing the team that painstakingly moved the Pittsburgh morgue down the block inch by inch:

One hundred men with jacks and ropes and cables and horses. They brought in heavy timbers and they built a railway and they had a whistle.

I’m sorry—“they had a whistle”? Who’s her eyewitness here, a three-year-old?

When talking about serious issues relating to the theme of the book, Laskas lapses into bafflingly casual language. About Congress’s investigation of the NFL:

America funds America’s game, and the NFL rakes in the profit. So, yeah, Congress has every reason to stick their nose into this business.

At a conference for former athletes suffering from dementia:

“Football? This is because of football?” Yeah, it was likely football.

Yeah, both of those points probably could have been made more effectively without the “yeahs.”

The most egregious passage, in my opinion, was about a chair of the NFL’s committee on head injuries:

[N]o, he wasn’t exactly a professor teaching at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as he had said, but he had, like, an honorary position there, but, well, no, he didn’t technically teach there, no. But anyway, his secretary screwed up. It was all her fault.

David Foster Wallace, is that you?

I’m not trying to say there’s no place for casual language in nonfiction writing about important topics, but I am saying that for me it just didn’t work here. It was inconsistent and odd and distracting, and I wish Laskas had realized she didn’t need it to tell this story.

****

If I haven’t made it clear, despite the uneven writing, this is an important book and I think everyone could learn something from it, be it about brains or autopsies or football or group dynamics or Nigeria, Dr. Omalu’s country of origin. The content of the book gets five stars and the writing gets two from me; this averages to 3.5 stars, rounded up to four, because the book is just that valuable.

I won this book via a First Reads giveaway here on Goodreads.

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concussion was a pretty engaging biography containing a lot of charming anecdotes about Dr Omalu contrasting too many tragic stories of football players whose lives were cut short or whose quality of life was greatly reduced through sports injuries.

It made a great case for why the research about a problem shouldn't be left to people who have a vested interest in the problem going unaddressed or outright denied (or to people cherry picked by aforementioned people).

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concussions have been studied since before 1927 when articles began to appear in medical journals. "Punch drunk' became a term for the injuries sustained by boxers. Back then only a minute group of people were studied. Football players were not even considered for study.

As Bennet Omalu, Nigerian, completed his education he studied the brain. He chose forensic pathology as his specialty and ended up working under the renown Cyril Wecht, his idol and his mentor, doing autopsies, as he became an expert in forensic neuropathology - the study of the brain to determine the cause of death. In 2002 Omalu did an autopsy on Mike Webster - Pittsburg Steeler - and that began his long journey of research and journal papers into CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), the repeated concussions that a football player sustains while playing the game.

However, Omalu was not to get credit for this discovery. He was maligned as a "quack" and over ran by the NFL (National Football League). The MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) committee was convened, but way of the NFL. The MTBI committee was put in place to make sure that the players and public did not understand what was happening to football players each time they took a hit on the field. That was 1994.

It is not until 2008 that the NFL finally is forced to agree with Omalu's findings and start to change the way football is played. Millions of dollars are then paid out to players families. By this time many, many past football players have committee suicide, many others suffer from dementia. Many of the players brains have been signed over for research upon their death, by the families. By 2015 the courts agreed that the NFL is liable and payment will be made to the families for football related dementia - which is currently projected to happen to at least 1/3 of all current football players and is expected to happen at an earlier age. The money deemed by the courts - one billion dollars - is a trifling for the NFL and will barely come to $190,000 per player.

This book has been made into a movie starring Will Smith as Bennet Omalu - already released.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the deft handling of the material. She makes the players and doctor sympathetic and likable.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A searing look at the massive NFL coverup of the brain damage that often results from repeated concussions, that rendered so many healthy men deranged, or senile long before their time, destroying their families' lives in addition to their own.

The book is also a biography of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant Nigerian forensic scientist who spotted the disease in these men and persisted, despite the efforts of the NFL to discredit and silence him. He stood against this giant corporate entity armed with only his genius, his tenacity, and his Catholic faith.

The surname Omalu is the shortened form of Onyemalukwube. Translated from the Igbo, it means "If you know, come forth and speak."

The 2015 movie of the same name stars Will Smith, in an Oscar-worthy performance. Read the book, see the film, and be righteously outraged at the NFL, and emboldened by Dr. Omalu's incredible courage.

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 Stars +

Best Non-Fiction Book of 2015

Award-winning literary journalist, Jeanne Marie Laskas returns following Hidden America, with her unique talent and style, uncovering real people, their obstacles, triumphs, and raw human emotions--written with wit, sensitivity, and compassion. A well-researched, gripping story, relevant to today’s top controversial headlines.

CONCUSSION, is brilliantly written---an inside view and compelling journey of thirty-four year-old Dr. Bennet Omalu. An extraordinary man, an up close and personal story. His version, told by Laskas of the events, the unraveling--leading up to, and the subsequent fallout after his astonishing discovery of CTE, 2002; and ultimately the fight against one of American's largest giants. The injustice. The cover-up. Greed. The NFL’s denial. How the scenario played out, both personally and professionally through his eyes.

CTE, An intriguing medical mystery. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a form of encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease found in people with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including symptomatic concussions as well as sub-concussive hits to the head that do not cause symptoms.

The disease was previously called dementia pugilistica (DP), i.e. "punch-drunk", as it was initially found in those with a history of boxing. The brain has always been mysterious. An organ which deteriorates over time with damage. The damage is not apparent immediately. Cannot outwardly be seen. The progression and the dangerous stages; earth-shattering! The men who tried to reach out for help, until it was too late.

Laskas re-creates heart-felt scenes and humble beginnings of Bennett from the villages in Nigeria to his hopes and dreams of a life in America, where everything back home was about busting loose from the pettiness, the corruption, and the wicked tendencies of man.

Ironically, as the book opens America, 2008--approaching forty years of age, Omalu is stuck in a boiling hot courtroom in Pittsburgh, where he feels like everything is once again about bursting loose from more of the same. Now in America.

Flashing back to 2002, and earlier times, to after the discovery of CTE, having been run out of the town of Pittsburgh—a place where he used to live. A place where he made his mark. His discovery. His safe haven. The home he and his wife were building for their family- a house now complete, sitting empty—as is his work, and reputation—now the chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County in California. Once again reliving this nightmare. The defendant, his former boss, Dr. Cyril Wecht, the man who gave him a chance. His American seventy-six year old father figure. He is forced to testify against him.

A religious Christian, and a devout Catholic, Omalu was born in Nnokwa, Nigeria in September 1968, the sixth of seven siblings. He was born during the Nigerian Civil War, which caused his family to flee from their home in the predominately Igbo village of Enugwu-Ukwu in southeastern Nigeria. Returning two years after his birth.

A close knit family and highly respected in the village, Omalu’s mother was a seamstress and his father an orphan, who believed education equaled freedom-- excelled as a civil mining engineer for the Nigerian government and community leader in Enugwu-Ukwu. The family name, Omalu, is a shortened form of the surname, Onyemalukwubew, which translates to “if you know, come forth and speak.” Bennet meaning “blessed”. Life is the greatest gift of all.

Dr. Bennet Omalu will indeed change the world with his discovery. However, as all great men, throughout our history. He is misunderstood. Hopefully this book will serve as an outreach to others, to educate.

Highly intelligent, Bennet started school at three years of age, high school and college years before others his age. Due to being sheltered, shielded, and protected he was naïve in many social areas. He did not want to see dirty. He had a pristine sense of idealism in his virginal mind. He did not like political strife. He dreamed of being an airline pilot, traveling the world with excitement. Far from his mind, being a doctor. His father had other ideas for his son’s future. Everyone is their family was successful. He would make his family proud. All of the Omalu children would go on to succeed in their professions. He would go to the US, the land of perfection and excellence.

America: A land where mankind is at its best. The land of milk and honey. However, he will soon learn, a shattered dream. One being racism. Injustice. How could a Christian nation founded on Christian principles perpetuate such evil over centuries? Why so many blacks in American did not become educated? There was something wrong with America. He would soon learn more evil with an example of one of the worst David vs. Goliath battles- going up against the NFL. He does not understand.

From medical school in Nigeria, six years, then a clinical internship, mandated paramilitary service, three years doctoring in a rural village---to America; the research scholarship, the second medical degree at Columbia University. He chose forensic pathology as a specialty. A specialist in death - why, and how death occurs. Board certified in four separate areas of pathology—anatomic, clinical, forensic, and neuropathology. Now in the courtroom, he is finishing up two more degrees for a total of seven. A master’s in public health in epidemiology and a master’s in business administration.

Being an expert in death would seem to be a counter intuitive move for a physician, a person committed to saving lives. How he ended up doing autopsies for a living-- None of this had been in his plan for his life. God had a bigger purpose.

To Bennet, a young forensic pathologist on the threshold of his career, Wecht embodied a particularly glamorous American dream, and that’s who Bennet wanted to study and work with…the reason for coming to Pittsburgh. Seven years he worked for Wecht, teaching him how to project self-confidence like an American. How to be ruthless when it came to local politics. From buying the tailored suits, the Mercedes, and all the things he needed to survive and compete; having to overcome being black. He learned from Wecht, the Pittsburgh’s medical examiner, he taught him about life, how to dress, build confidence, attitude – Wecht was famous, inserting himself in virtually every famous case of his day—he respected him.

Bennett was diligent, taking work home. Laying out brains, studying them on his dining room table. Wecht allowed him freedom, to explore, to create; yet sometimes putting his name on his work, he never once complained. He was paying his dues. He was promoting himself. Learning lessons about the harsh reality of American individualism. Largely because of Wecht’s confidence in him, Bennett became a brain expert in the first place. The field of forensic neuropathology—the study of the brain to determine cause of death. He began examining brains closer.

The day his life changed. A brain came to him to examine. Mike Webster, the NFL player who died. He had no idea what a Steeler was, until he encountered Mike’s body in the morgue in 2002. That was the beginning of a relationship. He was not caught up in this all consuming American sport. The one with repeated head trauma. He was asked to examine his brain. The day, the moment -- which would forever change the course of his life as well as thousands, with the discovery of CTE.

He grew to love Mike. His spirit. His soul. He talked to him. He wants to help him with answers. He changed his life in more ways than he could possible imagine. Bennet made a discovery in Mike’s brain that would help people forgive Webster for turning into a madman the way he did—and would go on to rattle America in ways he never intended.

With his education, his refugee background, Bennet saw much of his own story in Wecht’s. With his own depression, he relies on his faith. He becomes a close friend with Father Carmen, his love of God, his prayer group, where he shared his concern of racial unrest. He has an opportunity to prove his diligence when the Kimbell trial begins in 2002 when a man is set free after years in prison, falsely accused. He pays attention to details. He meets Prema, his future wife. She is afraid for him. He wants answers for Mike, his family, and all the NFL players.

“Living people mess you up. Living people are messy. Dead people are clean. There is no politics with dead people. With dead people what you see is what you get and you can keep looking and looking, and get more, and once you look inside the brain you find the story is beautiful in the way all things are infinite are beautiful. Holy. Every dead person is a controlled story, a distinct narrative revealing itself on the edge of a scalpel and through the lens of a microscope. It’s honest. It’s linear.”

He soon learns more about the real evil cruel world. Football. Exploitation. Dumped. Complications. The deficiencies in society. Possibly he did not belong in this society. Everyone is insulting his work. Ignored warnings. He is not included. A life he wanted. He became unsettled, depressed, and angry. He strives for perfection.

What about the football players? Who is protecting them? The NFL is not excited about his findings? Retraction? His work? Now society, the NFL, the media - brushing him aside. He is like Iron Mike. Hall of Famer. Dead at age fifty. No longer needed. He soon learned Mike’s determination, sheer will, insane training regimen, the extremes, and the abuse to his body, the best center in the NFL. Then they were done with him. He had to retire. From rage, his memory. His mind. Paranoia, dementia, delusion, addictions. Money gone. Homeless. Using a Taser to sleep. How did a fifty year old man become crazy? Repeated blows to the head. Mike was only the beginning. More to follow. Young, and old. More wives and families left behind. Suicides. Men driven to end their lives. How can he save these men before this happens again?

WOW! A riveting, powerful human tale—and what a storyteller! If you want a story told, Laskas is the ideal choice. I had to smile at the reference to Michael Jackson. Having just finished MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson, - can see the relation to both men, perfectionist and passionate about their work. Misunderstood.

I found myself bookmarking so many pages; engrossing and absorbing, CONCUSSION reads like a work of fiction, versus non-fiction. I could not put it down. In years past, have been primarily a reader of fiction; however, this past year, have been introduced to so many really talented non-fiction authors, with interesting topics, I plan to devote more time to this area in 2016.

An amazing journey when Jeanne Marie Laskas first met the young forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu in 2009, while reporting a story for GQ, would go on to inspire the movie Concussion, starring Will Smith, coming Christmas Day, 2015. View Movie Trailer

One of the most riveting, most significant medical discoveries of the twenty-first century, a discovery that challenges the existence of America’s favorite sport and puts Omalu in the crosshairs of football’s most powerful corporation: the NFL. Will Smith is the perfect cast for Omalu and looking forward to the upcoming movie. My hopes for continued awareness and changes.

Compared to the David vs. Goliath giants; the tobacco industry/cancer, environmental contamination, and pharmaceutical industry. Fraud. Cover-Ups. Greed. Tactics to lessen the findings and importance. From attorneys, a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry, lawsuits, specialists, opportunists, families, those who shut him out, attempts to discredit his work, not giving him credit for his discovery, the ultimate denial. Can this disease be found in the living, versus postmortem?

Immediately following read the author’s Game Brain an article written in 2009 for GQ— Bennet Omalu’s forgotten piece of the story, and inspiration behind the book CONCUSSION.

Listened to the audiobook of League of Denial, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru, a comprehensive account of the history of the NFL mishandling of the crisis of traumatic brain injury among players (highly recommend). Continued reading into the wee hours of the morning, Frontline stories, videos, blogs, articles, captivated by the alarming research and facts: Playing football leads to brain disease. Not only the NFL. Every parent should pay attention. Our children are being damaged, physically and mentally.

Highly recommend reading both books. League of Denial speaks more toward the football industry, the details, the NFL, and the players. Whereas, Consussion covers similar subjects; however, dives deeper into the man Bennet Omalu, his background, journey, his personal thoughts, comments, and (loved the quotes) scattered throughout the novel in italics— giving you an inside look into the man, his passion, and his mission. He is really quite humorous.

Laskas delivers a gripping story, beautifully told, of one man’s decision to stand up to a multi-billion-dollar colossus with courage. The truth. I have nothing but high regards and respect for Dr. Bennet Omalu, and his tenacity has not gone unnoticed. A special thank you to this incredible man, his talent, and his ongoing work to help others. A special tribute to the author, who stepped out to tell his real story to the world, so eloquently.

The book is always better than the movie, and in this case, hope it lives up to the book. It will change your thinking. A wakeup call for parents, coaches, and administrators. A game-changer.

Follow up - The Movie was Outstanding, as well.

JDCMustReadBooks

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you read this book? You need to read this book! On second thought, don't bother, nothing is going to change. I watched the movie, Head Games, about this exact subject, there was a pediatrician that specialized in sport injuries, she see's patients inflicted with concussions and she is fully informed on the end result of having documented and undocumented concussions, and she says her children will continue to play ice hockey, her children enjoy it and she and her husband enjoy watching them. Freaking CRAZY, Insane!! WTH???!!!!!

When you know better you do better, or not! This isn't Vegas where you roll the dice, this is your child's BRAIN.

Many, many years ago I moved to Alabama from Maryland. I had never paid much attention to any sports, wasn't even really aware they existed. I guess me and my sisters lived a pretty sheltered life in that respect, we went to museums, the library, the beach, the mountains, performed in church functions, even though the Washington Redskins were right up the road. It was a bit of a culture shock moving to Huntsville Alabama, one of the first things I was asked was, was I an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan. My reply was that I really didn't follow football. CRAZY! I was told I absolutely had to pick a team, so I said, okay, Alabama. Later I moved to Birmingham and the religion of college football was 50 times more intense than in Huntsville. They live and breathe college football. If you go into a store, any store, grocery store, department store, restaurant, if it is game day the games (all day long any college game) is played in the store, period. I got interested, I enjoyed it, a lot. It is almost cult like. Six years ago I moved to Dallas, TX and people like college football here, but it's not played all over the mall speakers on game day, the cars aren't decorated to the hilt with paraphernalia of their team. I miss it.

I am just rambling. Look, any sports that consistently involve head banging, football, soccer, ice hockey (fights), blah, blah blah can and will cause concussions. Most concussions the player is never aware of, a concussion can and does happen even when you don't see stars, even when you don't lose consciousness. It happens all the time, and the result is that it can and does lead to brain damage. The helmet only protects the skull bones from breaking, not the brain inside of the skull.

A few months back we had an awful murder here in Dallas, an ex Texas A&M college football player walked up to man running on a walking path and he started hacking him with a machete, the man died, and a few days later the wife of the victim took her life. Extremely tragic. I now wonder about that football player and what the hell made him do such a hideous crime. He was said to of been a quiet and pleasant child, played football in his childhood, high school, and then college, but something happened in college, basically he went nuts and so he dropped out of college and spiraled into what, a machete killer. They said he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Who knows. Maybe someone will get his permission to do some test and find out just what is wrong with him. Maybe he just has schizophrenia, a horrible disease. Who knows. Does anyone care what is actually wrong with him. He is a murder.

If you don't want to question whether your kids should play sports, if you want to keep watching sports and not think about the brain damage that is occurring, perhaps what damage you are inflicting on your own brain, then don't read this book. This book is about madness, complete and utter madness. You don't just have a few issues, you go crazy, certifiable crazy, institution crazy, no hope.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

This is a truly informative book about the danger of concussions in football, especially the National Football League.

The main character, Dr. Bennett Omalu discovered the disease but was hampered at every turn.

This shows the dangerous results of football hits at every level from pee wee to the pros.

A painful read but important.

I recommend for all, especially for parents.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems hypocritical to have Super Bowl 50 playing in the background as I finish the last couple chapters of this story. It brings to light the seriousness of brain injuries caused by football and the NFL's attempt to cover it up or downgrade it. I've enjoyed watching football over the years but I don't know if I will be able to enjoy it as I have in the past after reading this. Very sad and shocking. It bears a strong similarity to the Romans watching the gladiators fight each other.

Even though this is mainly about football, there are also underlying themes of racism, violence and oppression. Overall, very good book.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a football lover. A football watching fool. Specifically I am an Oregon Ducks football fanatic. After reading this excellent but heart-wrenching story about the damage done by the violence of this sport I so love, I am going to have to rethink my devotion. This book is a stellar, stop you in your tracks telling about the fraud perpetuated (and paid for) by the NFL and the courageous and heroic Dr. Bennet Omalu. The movie based upon this book is coming out at Christmas- can't wait to see it. This book is not to be missed.

[Diabolica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughly enjoyed reading this novel. Depicting the scenes and events with astounding imagery and literary mechanics.

It was a thoroughly interesting read, where I enjoyed reading both about Dr. Bennet's life and the science behind his work.

The oddest thing about this book, is that these events transpired within the last fifteen years, even almost ten years. And it's so weird to read a biography about such a recent character in the pathological field.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concussion is a very interesting, VERY DISTURBING story about the discovery of the prevalence of CTE in American Football players. Although science and medical discovery sits at the heart of this story, this is just one of its many layers. It’s also the story of Bennet Omalu, and Nigerian forensic pathologist attempting to build a career in America. It’s a story that pits the scientist against the multi-billion dollar NFL industry. As with all David and Goliath narratives, the lengths that the NFL went to in an attempt to discredit Omalu’s research, at the expense of the lives of players, former players, and their families is shocking. You can’t make stories like this up. It’s not a new story, but it’s still a shocking one. There’s just enough science for nerdy types like me, mixed with lots of drama and outrage, and elements of the personal. It’s a great, and important read.

[Meaghan Recollet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omalu, despite battling his own mental illness, somehow tried to stand up for the players in the NFL and their increased risk for brain damage, and was consistently shut down by not only the NFL, but other doctors and professionals. So thankful that this book can show his hard work, dedication and care to a country and people that aren't even his own.

[Sherrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

For weeks after receiving the digital advanced reader's copy of Concussion from NetGalley, I questioned why I had requested it. Primarily a Sunday Night Football fan because I enjoy spending time with my husband, I do have favorite players and teams. But my understanding of the game is sorely lacking. Perhaps it was the medical research side of the story. Maybe the legal side of it. I put off reading it again and again in favor of something else.

A couple of days ago I decided to go ahead and read the book and review it as I had agreed to do. And then once I started reading it, I could not put it down! I mean it was a straight through read. My only difficulty in reading came during the telling of Bennet Omalu's life story, and I'm not certain why that is. It did not in any way compromise my enjoyment of the rest of the book.

Jeanne Marie Laskas is not only a gifted writer but also an excellent investigative reporter. Beginning with an article in GQ Magazine about Dr. Omalu, Laskas's reporting turned into the book I'm now reviewing, with a movie based on this story up for release this Christmas.

Concussion is a melding of many story lines, which Laskas weaves together in a masterful tapestry:

A young Nigerian boy growing up with dreams of coming to America, clearly not understanding what America holds in contrast to his homeland.

A mentor-mentee relationship between Bennet Omalu and Dr. Cyril Wecht, famous for his stance on the two-bullet theory of the JFK assassination.

A young doctor working in the county medical examiner's office encounters the death of an NFL football player and begins questioning why, leading him to the discovery of a never heard of condition, CTE.

The proverbial opening of a can of worms with the NFL, its management and ownership, lawyers, experts, and more fighting to save what has been an American tradition for decades.

One man fighting against a mountain of greed, graft, fraud, and lies.

There isn't one thing I can critique in less than a positive way, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page turn on my Kindle. Never having read a Jeanne Marie Laskas book, I have found a new favorite author.

This is a book you must read if: You love football. You are a parent of children, boys and/or girls, with a dream of playing football. You are a concerned fan, parent, or physician. You don't know enough about what has gone on behind the scenes in this ongoing investigation into head injuries in the NFL, college level, high school, or PeeWee Leagues. Even if you are not a fan of football, Laskas's book will open your eyes to the damage done by multiple, repetitive concussions in any sport.

As you are aware, if you follow my blog regularly, I do not use a rating system. However, a book such as Concussion, which educates and entertains me to the level this one did, deserves a rating of five stars.

FTC Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed are mine.

[Alexander Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the movie when it first came out. I recently picked up the audiobook because my library had it on their app for free.

There was so much more in the book that the movie didn't touch.

The beginning of the book is largely about Nigeria and the doctor's battle with mental illness. I had no idea Omalu struggled with mental illness himself. It makes sense now why he wanted to look more into why these NFL players were losing their minds.

I also had no idea how much Omalu loves America. His digressions about roads, education, dress, homes, and everything else make you realize he truly treasures the United States.

Those sections added considerable weight to the retelling. It makes you understand why telling the story of these American heroes meant so much to him.

Not a light read. Great journalism.

[Sarah at Sarah's Bookshelves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Visit my blog, www.sarahsbookshelves.com, for the full review:

Headline

Concussion is a so much more than a “football book”; it’s a medical mystery, a David & Goliath story, an immigrant’s story, and a story of a big-business cover-up…and, it’s my favorite nonfiction of 2015!

What I Liked

- This book was such an unexpected surprise for me! A third of the way through, football had been mentioned only once.
- The book opens with an intriguing “mentee vs. mentor” situation involving Bennet and his eccentric mentor, Dr. Cyril Wecht (the only member of a 1970’s forensic pathology panel who backed the JFK two bullet theory), which created immediate suspense.

[Lisette · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. Fascinating account on the long term effects on hits in football can damage the brain of players leading to CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy.) However, this story is also a memoir of Dr. Benett Omalu, the pathologist that discovered CTE and the lengths the NFL and other leaders in the field went to ostracize him and discredit his research. It's maddening what he was put through so I'm glad this book (and I hope the movie) gives him the credit and recognition he deserves

[Sam Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darn good read. Couldn't put it down. Don't play American Football folks.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American immigrant doctor who discovered that the debilitating behaviour a lot of retired football players had developed was caused by a degenerative brain disease. This disease, which he named Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) was caused by sustained head trauma and multiple concussions that occurred when these players played football. This is also the story of the backlash that came from the National Football League (NFL) when he published his research for the world to see, and the multiple times that the NFL silenced and excluded Dr. Omalu as the discussion and research around concussions became too big to be silenced and the public began to be aware of exactly how much damage was being done to these men they were cheering on at every game.

See, that’s a nicely written synopsis, isn’t it? Much better than the actual writing in this book. For a book about one of the most important neuroscientific discoveries of the 21st century, there was truly little neuroscientific writing. I wanted more brains in this book than we got, and we got them much later than expected. What was there was written so poorly I had to reread passages because my god, this author does not know how to make science both factual and interesting.

Some (actually a lot) of the author’s choices on what to focus on and how she describes things rubbed me the wrong way. You’ll see in a moment. For now, just know that this book has good premise, but delivers very poorly on execution. I did some Googling and found out the author is a white successful journalist, born and raised American. Though she has won awards in the journalism industry for her articles, it is without a doubt clear that writing a book is not the same thing as writing a journal article. Not even close. The fictionalized way that the author describes interactions between people was so stiff. I think she could’ve done better by not trying to make this entire book read like a fiction novel.

The writing style could be described as follows:

“This happened. Then this happened. And then this happened. Also, this happened as well. And here’s a tangent that sort of correlates to what was just said, but it takes you out of the narrative that you just read and now you’re left with all this information trying to organize it on your own. . . Then this happened.”

In other words, there were different story lines that, while interesting enough, kept on colliding in awkward ways. To begin with, the book starts with Dr. Omalu testifying against his mentor Dr. Wecht in a court case, who, as we find out, exploited his labour by underpaying him and giving him autopsy work that Wecht would later take credit for. (Despite this, the book says repeatedly that Omalu saw Wecht as a father figure, a bold man who taught him how to be “like an American”, which makes me really uncomfortable to read about.) This court case doesn’t get mentioned again until three-quarters of the book later.

Then we go way back in time to get Omalu’s background; we learn about his childhood growing up in Nigeria, some family history, and a description of the Nigerian civil war in the 1960s. We learn that Omalu suffers from depression, and how that affected his self-esteem and self-image growing up. Then, we build up to Dr. Omalu traveling to America for med school, becoming a forensic pathologist, getting access to former football star Mike Webster’s brain, discovering and naming CTE, discovering the connection between CTE, chronic long-term brain damage and debilitating behaviour in (former and current) football players and how it all comes from getting hit in the head playing football. You see him gathering his research, writing his papers and sending them to academic journals. All this builds up and you get so excited to see how the NFL and larger scientific community reacted to his paper, and then – the narrative cuts off to tell you all about how he and his fiancée got married in his hometown in Nigeria.

Listen, I’m all for people finding love and getting married to the person they want to spend the rest of their life with, but what was the point? Why put this at this point in the story? Make people interested in finding out the repercussions of Omalu publishing cutting-edge research on brain trauma and then you put us through pages of badly described wedding events? Also, the American priest that Omalu brought to Nigeria for the marriage ceremony was so cringey to read about – he went on about “I am going to Africa!” ever since Omalu and his fiancée asked him to come along. He seemed like that naïve white tourist guy who romanticizes the idea of “Africa” and I wanted to shout at him, “You’re going to Nigeria, southern Nigeria to be specific; you’re going to one country in the continent of Africa, stop making it seem like Africa is this one place with all the same people.”

While we see Omalu adjusting to living in America, we also see him adjusting to being racialized as a black man for the first time. There are italicized passages in Omalu’s own words that the author included in the story, telling us how if he’d known exactly how racism operated in America, he wouldn’t have come. How disappointed and angry he was at being perceived as less than, less intelligent, less creative, less driven. “And every time I smelled racism, I even became angrier and more determined to be myself and stand up for what I believed in, which in my mind was the truth” (p. 246). Those passages are heartfelt and moving, more so than anything else regarding race in this book. I feel that this subject deserved more nuanced attention as it connects to the story overall, of a black immigrant doctor who made a big scientific discovery and led to the reveal of massive corruption and cover-ups in the NFL about brain damage in football. His status as a black immigrant is a big part of why his work and medical research, his ethics, etc. was questioned and why he was consistently, systematically ignored by the NFL, the scientific community, and later by the general public in favor of whiter faces. Even when the U.S. Congress invited medical professionals to testify on the harmful effects of concussions, Dr. Omalu wasn’t invited.


Another point on the author bias: her commentary on immigrants at the end of this book is pretty racist. Take this passage from page 250,

“If Bennet has any emotional ties to Nigeria, to the nation or the culture, he can’t find them. Maybe that’s typical for an immigrant in America. People expect you to have some measure of longing for the land you left, and you don’t want to disappoint anybody, but frankly all that stuff is dead. That’s like weeds you pulled. Nobody misses a dandelion.”

Then she proceeds to talk about all the problems Nigeria was having at that time: the Ebola epidemic, terrorist killings, the abduction of schoolgirls by Boko Haram, like this is justification for what she just wrote. As if America doesn’t have its own cesspool of issues, racism and police brutality being just two of them.

I. CAN’T. BELIEVE. THIS. WOMAN’S. AUDACITY.

Writing that it’s normal for immigrants to losing any feeling for the country they come from, is xenophobic, frigid and unnecessarily cruel. Erasing multicultural identity like that is so thoughtless – it makes me mad. Mad enough to want to punch something. I'm a child of immigrants myself. I have extended family who are also immigrants. Living in a new country doesn’t mean that everything that happened from before you moved goes away. Far from it. And it’s a bigger struggle to do so for people of colour. Look at all the stories of immigrants coming to America, children of immigrants feeling isolated from their ethnic backgrounds from trying to assimilate into American culture just to stay afloat. For all that she wrote a book about a black immigrant, this author really doesn’t want to understand what it’s like to be an immigrant.






Oh, wait. There’s more.

Back to the brains for a bit. There are photography pages in the middle of this book, as some biographies and nonfiction books have. There are black-and-white photos of Omalu in the lab, Omalu and his wife and kids, Omalu’s family from Nigeria (his mom, sister, father, and pictures from this father’s funeral). Those were nice and fine to look at.

There are also pictures of brains; a picture of a whole brain with CTE, a cut coronal section of a brain with CTE, and pictures of test tubes with brain tissue in them.

Here’s the issue I have with this. There’s no visible damage seen in these photographs, because CTE is found microscopically. We know this from reading the book, that Dr. Omalu found CTE by putting slices of preserved brain under a microscope.

The author spends long sections of this book talking about Dr. Omalu’s brain slides. She talks about the tau tangles on the brain slides that Dr. Omalu named CTE; these slides that define Dr. Omalu’s research, that define the reason behind the brain trauma of all these football players, that define the disease that is CTE, and THERE IS NOT A SINGLE PICTURE OF THEM!

NOT A SINGLE PICTURE OF VISIBLE MICROSCOPIC CTE ON A BRAIN!

WHY? WHY? THERE SHOULD BE AT LEAST ONE!

At least ONE picture of a brain that actually shows CTE in the brain, and just for comparison, a slide of a normal, healthy brain to show the damned difference!

Isn’t that the whole point of what Dr. Omalu was trying to prove in this research? To show how devastating of an impact concussions can have? And the publisher just chose to leave that out? Give me a fucking break.

This was my biggest reading disappointment of 2020. Which sucks because I’m interested in the intersections between medicine and culture, so I had some expectations for it. Football is still a multi-billion-dollar industry in America, and it’s still popular after this huge scandal about the NFL trying to hide the damaging effects of concussions on players. While there’s been more research in the study of concussions and publicity about how damaging they can be, in some places there’s still not enough care being taken to properly educate young people about concussions and post-concussion syndrome. You can get a concussion from not only collision sports like football, hockey, rugby, soccer and basketball, but also recreational activities like biking or hiking, or accidents like slipping down the stairs or just falling and hitting your head the wrong way. Having taken medical anthropology courses in university (and y’know, living in Canada, right next to America, we get a lot of news from our several-billion-dollar-military-budget neighbours), I’m well aware of how healthcare in Canada and the United States is organized and accessed, and how there’s not a few clinics and hospitals that are overworked, understaffed and underfunded (even outside of a pandemic). Before treating concussions, you gotta diagnose them first, and that doesn’t come easy. Symptoms don’t always come the day of; they can show up days, weeks, even months after the injury, and there are cases of doctors not believing patient’s symptoms. Sometimes it takes a second, third, fourth, etc. medical opinion to get an accurate diagnosis (one of my friends was only diagnosed with a concussion after seeing a 4th doctor). Knowing this makes this book even more frustrating.

I’m rating this 1 star because that is the only way I can show my profound disappointment in this book on this damn website.

[Lauren | Wordsbetweenlines · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

I’ve put this off for soooo long becuase when the movie came out, I worked in neurorehab, primarily with concussion management. I was also part of a team that created a course on assessing and treating non sport concussions. So I have a LOT of opinions. So I finally decided to give it a go.

I really appreciated that this was nonfiction and based on a real doctor but I wanted more concussion info. It was a very slow burn.

We get a lot of background information on Dr. Omalu. The first 1/4 is all background. When we got to the actually research it thankfully picked up. And the last 1/3 was quite interesting.

I appreciated Dr. Omalu’s dedication to research and looking for answers. His work has brought a lot of attention to brain injuries, prevention and changing how we look at head injury in sports.

I would be interested in reading other books about CTE and the NFL in particular with a bit less personal life story and more focus on the research.

[Jessica Dugita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely one of my favorite books I've ever read. I watched the movie in my athletic training class last year and thought it was very interesting too. It's cool to read about real people and real experiences dealing with brain damage and mortality. In this case, CTE has caused a tremendous uproar in the football community so hearing the opinions from real doctors and medical examiners gave real insight on it compared to anger players, coaches, and fans' uneducated opinions. I would recommend this book to anyone whos a football fan or interested in learning more about the brain and the effects that can be taken on it.

[Steve MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

After following my son through a journey of concussions that started from a vehicle accident, this book caught my interest. As a scientist I appreciate the work of Dr Omalu. The story was heart breaking to me but shows the corporate greed and lack of trust in new science. Shame on the NFL. I fear for my son’s future as I see the effects of his concussions and I thank the team of doctors and other professionals who helped him heal thru the great research on brain injury healing. Thanks for sharing this story and the personal side of this amazing journey to America and CTE.

[Clif Brittain · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really should be titled Omalu, but that wouldn't sell many books.

It could be called Racism, because that is mostly what it is about. Were Omalu's skin any color but black, he would have the same status as Jonas Salk or Christiaan Barnard as a medical researcher.

It could be called An Incomplete History of Racism in the United States because it scratches the surface of the most complicated situation facing the United States. Particularly interesting to me would be the contrast of racism vs. Africans as contrasted with the racism vs. African-Americans.
Even more interesting would be the racism of African-Americans vs. Africans.

It could be called Assholes, because that describes his chief detractors, the leadership cadre of the NFL and their whores, the medical "advisors". The medical teams employed by the NFL knew as much about the brains of football players as the cheerleaders.

It could be called Suckers, because that describes the players and the fans who support the NFL system at the core of the problem. It also describes the NFL farm system, the NCAA, which has corrupted higher education by acting as pimps for recruiting and training the product.

It could be called How to Escape Depression by Completely Escaping Your Culture and Revealing your True Genius. Depression is one of the many millstones Omalu carried. His escape is one of the many miracles revealed in the book.

It could also be called An All Too Brief Glimpse into CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy). The book does very little to describe the actual degeneration of the brain. It makes clear that the problem is not usually the massive single hit which causes an identifiable concussion, but the countless number of impacts (perhaps 40,000 before a pro player retires). There is all too little here about the science of the brain. But nevertheless the book is titled Concussion.

It was a very enjoyable book to read. I’m not sure I can accurately describe the writer’s style. She does not write in the flowing manner of John McPhee or Tracy Kidder. The sentences are shorter and there is sort of a breathlessness to the writing. She does not adequately flesh out many ideas. Instead she relies on the reader to make the leap. It is sort of like a conversation, where you realize where the speaker is going and the speaker knows it, so they skip some stuff to go onto the next point. In terms of entertainment, I find this style exciting. In terms of understanding the science of brain damage, I find it deficient.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, where Omalu lived during this episode. I pretty much left at the age of eighteen with the idea of putting as much distance between me and Pittsburgh as possible. I was living in “Steeler Nation” just before Mike Webster (Omalu’s first CTE diagnosis) was playing. I was not caught up in the hype. However, I was aware of the fact that everyone was always talking about the “Stillers” all the time and that black and gold were the fashion colors of Pittsburgh. One thing I was aware of was that the Steelers had (and still have) the coolest uniforms. I was also aware that black players had a particular aura that was not favorable (Big Daddy Lipscomb - not a college graduate, perhaps not a high school diploma who died of a heroin overdose) and Joe Gilliam (first black NFL quarterback and a junkie). Gilliam had the hardest pass I have ever seen. It amazes me that anyone could catch it. On the favorable side, I was also aware that Roberto Clemente of the Pittsbugh Pirates was hugely under-appreciated in Pittsburgh. For whatever reason, blacks in Pittsburgh are not well respected. The ghetto in Pittsburgh is as geographically defined as it was in Warsaw. That Omalu thought he could buy a home in Sewickley is like thinking Mike Webster could replace Terry Bradshaw.

It amazes me that Omalu could live in Pittsburgh and be oblivious to the Steelers. This is like living on Oahu and not recognizing it as an island.

On the other hand, he worked in the coroner’s office for Cyril Wecht, the Allegheny County Coroner and also a Commissioner of Allegheny County. Growing up, it seemed like all you ever heard about was the “Stillers” and politics. He worked for the most controversial man in the County (State?). According to this biography, he was acutely aware of the spotlight shown on his boss and he emulated his boss. The only way I can account for his ignorance of Steeler Nation and his awareness of Cyril Wecht was that he never once read either of the two Pittsburgh newspapers.

Willful ignorance describes the NFL. Actually willful ignorance understates the case. The author likens the NFL to Big Tobacco. “Oh, we didn’t know. No that we know, we’ll put up a poster.”

The most appalling conclusion is that we Americans still put up with this crap. Football causes CTE? Well, we’ll just pay more to compensate the players. Gun violence causes 38,000 deaths? Well, we wouldn’t want to violate the constitution. We’re ensuring our extinction by burning more carbon? Too late now, fill ‘er up.

I’m guilty too, but I like to think I drag my feet a little. I will root against the home team (Vikings, Gophers, Wild), hoping that a loss will decelerate the CTE momentum in my state. I’ve never owned a gun and I never will. I drive as little as possible. I read a lot.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for me. I really appreciated all of the parts of the book dealing with the actual concussion and CTE research and the struggles with the NFL. However, there seemed an excessive amount of information about Dr. Omalu himself that seemed completely unrelated to his research that I found unexpected (and unnecessary). It took about 80 pages just to get to what I expected to be reading about from the start. Without those added pages, this would definitely have gone up a star.

[Chi Okare · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one’s just decent. It’s my second time through it, and i feel like it gets caught a lot in between trying to be a biography of Bennett omalu’s life and trying to be a story about how he discovered the phenomenon of CTE and what his battles with the NFL were like. I think because it tries to be both, it misses a lot of points you’d have wanted to hear about both subjects.

Additionally, having just read Americanah, which gives the best and most accurate description of what nigeria is like that I’ve ever read, it just makes those same descriptions of nigeria in this book look lazier and more surface level. The book inspired a movie but it almost reads like the movie came first and the book only existed to live alongside the movie.

[Bookphile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you read a book and it completely changes your mind about something. Concussion is one such book. I've never been into the NFL, but having gone to a university with a very big sports presence, I did get absorbed into the college football scene. Game days were great social events, a time when alumni and students would gather by the thousands to celebrate a game that seems so quintessentially American, to cheer on the "gladiators" tasked with bringing our alma mater glory. After reading this book, it makes my stomach curdle to think I was a participant.

The bottom line is this: the NFL knew for years that football caused massive, irreversible brain damage to its players. By its own admission--which can hardly be trusted, given that it denied time and again that there was a link between football and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy--basically, having your brain repeatedly jarred around in your skull)--it anticipates that at least a third of all players will eventually suffer from the condition. One third. Let that number sink in for a while. One third of all NFL players risk becoming violent, risk losing their memories, risk sinking into a dementia from which they would never return, all as a result of playing a game. This isn't a condition that affects them only in old age, either. Some of the now deceased players whose brain analyses proved they had CTE were only in their 40s. Owen Thomas, a defensive end playing for the University of Pennsylvania, hanged himself at 21, and became the youngest person diagnosed with CTE. These are real people suffering from the all-too-real, devastating consequences of playing a game for the entertainment of Americans and the pocket-lining of the multi-billion dollar juggernaut that is the NFL.

I'm not going to forget about this book. I know it's going to be there in my mind, that it's going to leap to the fore whenever I even hear football mentioned. Some people may say, "Well, these guys know going into it that it's dangerous, that they risk injury every time they step on the field." Yes, but what about the spectators' role? What about asking people to subject themselves to upwards of 20 gs of force from the blows they suffer (the linemen on every single play), all so we can sit on our couches--or in the stands--and be entertained? From this point forward, that thought and football are going to be forever inextricable in my mind.

And all of this is the result of one man's scientific curiosity. A man who for many years didn't get the credit he was due, and who even found himself on the verge of being ruined because he dared threaten the security of one of the most lucrative industries in the U.S. If anything is a textbook example of why independent science is of dire importance, it's Bennet Omalu's story.

Concussion is about many things, not least of which is a profile of Omalu's life and what drove him to become the scientist he is. All of this serves as a reminder that those who find things that challenge deeply held notions are at the very least underappreciated and at the very worst discredited. Bennet Omalu is a man, and the book doesn't shy from showing his flaws and missteps, but his mind is a marvel. Thanks to his discovery and tenacity, millions of people now know about the real risks of playing football. Thanks to his continuing commitment to studying brain injury--despite all he suffered because he dared to question the NFL--he continues to shed light on the effects of brain injury while doggedly pursuing effective treatments and, hopefully, a cure.

This book is so many things that I find it difficult to sum it up. One thing I'm not sure it's meant to be is a warning, but it should be taken as such. The current social and political climate in the U.S. exemplifies an alarming lack of awareness when it comes to science, even to the point of a backlash against scientific knowledge and research. I think the question that all Americans need to ask is why? I think in asking that question, we are likely to arrive at an answer that held true of the NFL's coverup of the effects of CTE, of the tobacco industry's vehement denials that smoking causes cancer, and of countless other examples of solid science being suppressed: because it threatens a sacred cash cow, a sacred cash cow that is often considered more important than human lives.