On December 21, 2015, MomsTeam Institute of Youth Sports Safety held a special advance screening of Sony Pictures's new movie, Concussion, starring Will Smith, at the Loews - Boston Common theatre.
Joining me at the screening and a post-screening reception at the Ritz-Carlton were concussion experts and advocates from around the nation, Jeanne Marie Laskas, author of the 2009 GQ article on which the movie is based and the critically-acclaimed book, Concussion (pictured to my right below), and a large contingent of former NFL players (including Joey LaRoque (l) and Caleb Hanie (r)).
The screening was held as part of a social media campaign called #ForThePlayers [1] created by Sony Pictures to support the movie's release in which football fans are being encouraged to "Dance or Donate": either upload a video of their touchdown dance to YouTube or Instagram, or make a donation to make a tax-deductible donation to MomsTeam Institute, a leader in educating sports parents and other youth sports stakeholders about concussions and repetitive head trauma since launching its pioneering Concussion Safety Center [2] in 2001, and challenge their friends to do the same.
Concussion is a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Bennet Omalu, MD, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. The film, a Sony Pictures presentation, was written and directed by Peter Landesman, based on the GQ article "Game Brain" by Jeanne Marie Laskas, and produced by Ridley Scott, Giannina Scott, David Wolthoff, Larry Shuman and Elizabeth Cantillon, and executive produced by Michael Schaefer, David Crockett, Ben Waisbren, Bruce Berman and Greg Basser.
The Concussion screening caps off an incredible fifteen months for the Institute:
As the mother of triplet sons, one of whom was forced by a history of concussions to stop playing football before his junior year of high school, educating the public about concussions [10] and the cumulative effect of subconcussive head impacts [11] is something about which I care passionately and to which I have been deeply committed for the past sixteen years.
But, as much as we celebrate these achievements, and as much as we were honored to have been selected by UNICEF, the NCAA and Department of Defense, and Sony Pictures, we know that there is so much more the Institute could be doing to make sports safer, and this is where you can help.
As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Institute relies on private donations, corporate sponsors, and various grant funding agencies and foundations interested in sports safety education and awareness, to fund our operations.
As you consider making end-of-the year gifts to charity, we ask that you please consider making a tax-deductible contribution [12] to MomsTEAM Institute. Your gift will not only make it possible for the Institute to continue to help keep millions of kids safe playing sports, but enable us to exponentially expand our reach to help safeguard millions more.
Know that a gift in any amount will be greatly appreciated, not just by all of us at MomsTeam Institute, but by all the sports-active children in this country, and around the world, and their parents, who we help.
Thank you in advance, and best wishes for a happy and safe New Year!
Links:
[1] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-x/
[2] https://momsteam.com/health-safety/concussion-safety
[3] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-y/
[4] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-j/
[5] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-t/
[6] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-i/
[7] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-d/
[8] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-p/
[9] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-m/
[10] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-c/
[11] http://smartteams.createsend1.com/t/r-l-qtrtjg-l-q/
[12] https://momsteam.salsalabs.org/momsteamaltlayout/index.html