Sony Edited 'Concussion' Starring Will Smith to Please NFL

Sony Pictures made a number of changes to the film "Concussion" starring Will Smith in an effort to avoid angering the National Football League.

The New York Times reports that a number of scenes in the film about the NFL's efforts to cover up evidence of the deadly and dangerous disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been found to afflict people like football players and boxers who take too many high velocity blows to the head.

In the film, Will Smith plays Bennet Omalu, a doctor who figured out that the NFL knew more about CTE than it was letting on at the time. In emails about the film from August 14, 2014 and released by hackers, Sony said that moments of the film that might have embarrassed the NFL were deleted.

CTE has been blamed for the neurological degeneration of hundreds of players and even the suicides of stars like Junior Seau and Dave Duerson. Symptoms of the disease include forgetfulness, fits of rage and anger, and inexplicable behavior.

Approximately 5,000 former players had brought a lawsuit against the league demanding to know what the NFL knew and when it knew it. The case was eventually settled for hundreds of billions of dollars.

Sony says that it only made changes to make sure that it was not distorting the truth. The film's director said most of the changes revolved around things that may not have been medically accurate although they packed a punch on film.

At the same time, this wouldn't be the first time the NFL has pressured journalistic or entertainment organizations to alter its work on the league. For example, in 2004 the leauge got ESPN to cancel a show after one season because it didn't like how the show portrayed NFL players, who, like Ray Rice and Darren Sharper, have regularly made headlines for domestic abuse and rape.