Frontline has gotten its share of accolades from those who hand them out for excellence in documentary public television.
“League of Denial” attracted its share of high praise for its groundbreaking report on the concussion epidemic plaguing the National Football League.
It’s worth seeing again, online, as some critical stirrings are taking place regarding a huge settlement the NFL reached with former players.
It’s relevant yet again to those interested in the health of large professional athletes. Why watch it now? As Frontline noted in a release: Some 18,000 former NFL players and their beneficiaries will soon vote on a deal that could cost the league millions, after a judge granted preliminary approval in the NFL concussion settlement.”
The settlement totaled nearly $800 million. It was the result of a lawsuit filed by former players who alleged that the league didn’t do enough to care for the athletes suffering from traumatic brain injuries resulting from the concussions they suffered on the field.
“League of Denial” ran into a buzzsaw of controversy as it as being made. ESPN — a partner with the NFL — pulled out of the production of the special. Frontline proceeded anyway and aired the broadcast on Oct. 8, 2013.
It ended up winning numerous awards for broadcast journalism.
Take a look at on the link attached to this blog post. Or you can to pbs.org/frontline to see what the fuss was all about.
