As an avid Chicago Bears fan it's always interesting to see actors cast as our greatest players, and of course it means I'm more skeptical. But in this case I'm more than pleased. Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbage (Pompeii, Lost) will play Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson in Sony's untitled NFL concussion drama, which Will Smith will lead.
Produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Peter Landesman (Parkland), the film centers on forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennett Omalu (Smith), who discovered the link between football and chronic head injuries, forcing the NFL to take the issue more seriously. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin, Luke Wilson, and Albert Brooks will co-star.
Duerson played for multiple teams during his 10-year career, but the bulk of it was spent in Chicago where he earned three Pro Bowl invitations. In 2011 he committed suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but not before sending out a text to his family requesting his brain be used for research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Obviously, he was a man who was suffering greatly, and the researchers discovered that he had been suffering from CTE as a result of his football injuries.
