Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a silent predator that doesn’t strike with fangs or claws but with a gradual relentless dissolution of everything that makes them who they are. It begins as whispers rather than screams! Each ‘granite chin’ moment, each ‘walked through that shot’ commentary, each ‘quick return from concussion’ decision deposits another withdrawal slip against the brain’s balance. Headaches that arrive uninvited and refuse to leave, like an opponent who’s slipped past your guard. Dizziness that transforms defeats familiarity. Memories that once stood firm now flutter away like cornerman’s instructions between rounds,
The real battle doesn’t happen not under spotlights, but in quiet living rooms where former champions struggle to remember the names of battles they once dominated. Just ask guys like Georges St-Pierre, Fabricio Werdum, Shane Carwin, and Stipe Miocic and you will know the horror! That is why physical sports like MMA and football, where athletes take regular blows and concussions, are so dangerous. Joe Rogan, of course, is famously vocal about raising awareness about the disorder. So when former NFL star Antonio Brown, whom many think has CTE, came on the JRE podcast, the discussion couldn’t ignore the 2006 film that brought CTE into the mainstream discourse and consciousness.
“The reality of head trauma is something that we’re, like, as a society, we’re just embracing over the last 10-20 years. Like it wasn’t for that concussion movie, I think that opened up a lot of people’s eyes. That Will Smith movie and the story of that doctor. Of him finding how many people have, like, significant brain trauma from football,” Rogan said on episode #2286 of the JRE pocast
The ‘Will Smith’ film Rogan is talking about is about the 2015 film, titled ‘Concussion’, which tells the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, who, along with his team, discovered the prevalence of CTE in former football players. Brown, of course, famously ripped off his jersey and stormed off the field during a game against the Jets in 2022. Fans attributed this to CTE, which many feel may stem from a nasty concussion he got in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2016 as part of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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