--- title: New Concussion Trailer Shows Will Smith Against the NFL description: Smith plays the doctor who discovered the damage concussions can cause canonical: https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-31T12:24:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:01:51.455Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Will Smith Take on the NFL in the New 'Concussion' Trailer og:description: Smith plays the doctor who discovered the damage concussions can cause og:url: https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfeee47a27b485ead/698861a9f887dc424ae92240/screen-shot-2015-08-31-at-8-16-50-am.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-08-31 at 8.16.50 AM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Will Smith Take on the NFL in the New 'Concussion' Trailer twitter:description: Smith plays the doctor who discovered the damage concussions can cause twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfeee47a27b485ead/698861a9f887dc424ae92240/screen-shot-2015-08-31-at-8-16-50-am.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Will Smith Take on the NFL in the New _Concussion_ Trailer  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 31, 2015 12:24 PM UTC   by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 31, 2015 12:24 PM UTC Ten days before the NFL begins its season, the trailer for Will Smith’s next movie, _Concussion_, has hit the Internet. Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the person who discovered Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy, or CTE, the neuro-degenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma, in the brains of two professional football players. Omalu faced roadblocks from the NFL as he tried to reveal the damage the game could do to its players. Alec Baldwin stars alongside Smith as a doctor helping Omalu to bring his research to light. The film is based on a 2009 [article](http://www.gq.com/story/nfl-players-brain-dementia-study-memory-concussions) that ran in GQ called “Game Brain.” ### See Sports Illustrated's 100 Best Masters Photos  Adam Scott celebrates his playoff win at the 2013 Masters with caddie Steve Williams. Simon Bruty—Sports Illustrated  Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams celebrated after Woods chipped in for birdie on the 16th hole Sunday at the 2005 Masters. Neil Leifer—Sports Illustrated  Phil Mickelson birdied the 18th hole to win his first major at the 2004 Masters. Robert Beck—Sports Illustrated  In what many consider the greatest Masters ever, Jack Nicklaus, at age 46, fired a final-round 65 in 1986 to win his sixth green jacket. John Iacano—Sports Illustrated  Woods threw his signature fist pump after sinking the winning putt for his first major in 1997. John Iacano—Sports Illustrated  Woods then made his way through the patrons to give his father, Earl, a bear hug. Bob Martin—Sports Illustrated  This photo of Woods teeing off on 18 during the final round of the 2001 Masters made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Click to see more of Sports Illustrated's 100 Best Masters Photos on golf.com Fred Vuich—Sports Illustrated ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/"},"headline":"Watch Will Smith Take on the NFL in the New Concussion Trailer","datePublished":"2015-08-31T12:24:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:51.455Z","description":"Smith plays the doctor who discovered the damage concussions can cause","url":"https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfeee47a27b485ead/698861a9f887dc424ae92240/screen-shot-2015-08-31-at-8-16-50-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfeee47a27b485ead/698861a9f887dc424ae92240/screen-shot-2015-08-31-at-8-16-50-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2015-08-31 at 8.16.50 AM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4016851/concussion-trailer-will-smith/","name":"Watch Will Smith Take on the NFL in the New Concussion Trailer"}}]}] ```