Concussion Page #12

COLLEEN BAILES:

What are you reading?

BAILES:

It’s about Mike.

COLLEEN BAILES:

I miss Mike.

(brain scans)

Oh god I can’t look at that.

(Bailes rubbing his face;

(MORE)

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 57.

COLLEEN BAILES (CONT'D)

looking into the middle

distance, doing the math)

Julian, what is it?

BAILES:

How could I have missed this?

COLLEEN BAILES:

What are you talking about?

BAILES:

If this is really true, it’s the

end of football.

(and cut to--)

INT. AUTOPSY CHAMBER - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - DAY

Bennet, Sullivan, Gracie stand over 300-lbs. of heavily

muscled death. Black. No wounds, no blood.

SULLIVAN:

(looking at the face; grief-

stricken)

Well now, Terry. Ya wonder where

are they now. Now we know.

(for Bennet)

Terry Long. Pittsburgh Steelers.

GRACIE:

(reading hospital report)

Who drank a gallon of antifreeze.

That’s not how I’d do it.

SULLIVAN:

I guess these guys only die when

you’re working-

BENNET:

What other problems did he have?

SULLIVAN:

Who cares?

GRACIE:

Arrested a few times.

(looking at the report)

Fraud. Federal theft. And wow.

Arrested a lot.

SULLIVAN:

I know what you’re doing.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 58.

BENNET:

Drinking antifreeze is the work of

a lunatic mind.

(then)

What position? What position did he

play?

SULLIVAN:

Offensive line.

BENNET SULLIVAN (CONT'D) *

Same as Mike Webster. Webby was a center. Terry

played right guard.

BENNET:

(the records)

No recorded concussions. Nine years

of professional football. As an

offensive guard.

(then)

I need a full autopsy. Same tests

as Webster.

SULLIVAN:

You’re paying for that, too.

BENNET:

Yes, Daniel. I’m paying for that,

too.

(Bennet doesn’t even hear

it, his eyes already

focused on--)

Joseph Maroon-

The signature on Long’s records: Joseph Maroon. And now cut

to-

JOE MAROON’S COMPUTER IMAGE SMILING AT US, TRIM, TAN,

MUSCULAR, HIS TOOTHY GRIN FILLING OUR SCREEN

Pull back to REVEAL we’re in Bennet’s little shitbox office

at the Coroner’s. He’s at his computer. Before him, the

website www .josephmaroon.com, the personal site for the

Steelers’ team doctor. Chief neuro-surgeon of the NFL. The

country’s premiere specialist in neurosurgery and sports

medicine.” Bright pastel design, mentorships on longevity and

healthy living. The whole thing like an ad for toothpaste &

Viagra. All white, now-

PULL BACK again. And our view has become a cottony field. The

faint outline of snowflake-like brain cells. Then, from the

corner, the seepage of angry rust-brown blood.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 59.

Tau protein tangles. Seeping and strangling everything in

their path. PULL BACK FULL TO REVEAL-

90 INT. BASEMENT LAB - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - NIGHT

Bennet. It’s late. The only other living thing in the

building is Prema. In a chair now, by the door, reading with

a flashlight.

Bennet’s seen enough. Clicks off the table lamp. Just sits

slumped in the glow of the instruments and exit signs.

Then, in PRE-LAP, a phone rings, and we cut to--

91 OMIT

92 INT. BENNET’S CONDO - MORNING

Prema picks up the phone, “Hello?”. Hands to Bennet. And we-

MAN/PHONE (OVER)

Bennet Omalu?

BENNET:

This is Dr. Bennet Omalu.

MAN/PHONE (OVER)

Listen to me. Football has the best

doctors money can buy, and they’re

saying pro football players do not

get brain damage. At all. And

people who care about this stuff

are supposed to take your word for

it? Mike Webster was a pill-popping

drunk. And you’re an under-educated

hack. And you’re done, game over.

And looks up at Prema. The line is already dead. He hangs up.

BENNET:

(sarcastic)

I think they called back.

WECHT (PRE-LAP)

Did he really say you’re under

educated? Have they seen your

resume?

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 60.

INT. WECHT’S OFFICE - ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - DAY

Bennet, Wecht, Hamilton.

WECHT:

Well, I got calls, too. The

National Football League owns

neuroscience. Who knew?

HAMILTON:

(reading from a letter)

“Serious misinterpretation”.

“Failure to find”. “Absence of

clinical information”.

(looks to Wecht, ‘help?’)

Bennet’s at the window. In his hand, an envelope. Wecht and

Hamilton have one too.

BENNET:

What do they want?

WECHT:

Your head on a spike.

HAMILTON:

They want you to retract your

findings.

BENNET:

I don’t know what that means.

WECHT:

It means saying you made it all up.

BENNET:

(confused)

Made it up??

WECHT:

They’re accusing you of fraud-

BENNET:

(and now totally f***ing

confused)

Fraud?? What are they talking

about?? I’m so careful. I slaved

over this-

HAMILTON:

Your reputation will be destroyed.

You won’t be able to work.

Anywhere.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 61.

WECHT BENNET *

Good. Good!? *

**

WECHT:

They’re terrified of you.

BENNET:

I have to work! My visa depends onit.

WECHT:

Well, what the hell did you thinkthey were going to say, ‘Thankyou’?

BENNET:

Yes! I thought they’d be grateful!

WECHT:

What the hell for?

BENNET:

For being told. For knowing.

Bennet paces to the window, confused.

WECHT:

I get it. You think you’re being agood American.

(and looks at him; prideand sadness)

Listen to me. The city ofPittsburgh shelled out 233-million

dollars to help build its belovedSteelers a glorious new stadiumwhile it was closing schools andraising taxes.

(and snatches the envelopeout of Bennet’s hand and

waves it in his face)

These are not people who want tochange the world.

(now waves Bennet’sarticle)

And this isn’t some quaint academicdiscovery stuck in the back of anobscure medical journal. BennetOmalu is going to war with themanufacturer of a product thattwenty-million Americans craveevery Sunday the way they cravewater! The NFL owns a day of theweek! They’re very big!

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 62.

Pause. A long pause.

Bennet turns back to the window, staring out over the carpet

of lights. And the bridges. And the river.

And Heinz Field.

HAMILTON:

A pathologist determines cause of

death, not discover disease.

They’ll say Bennet’s in over his

head, and they’ll be right.

WECHT:

Yeah well the world only gets

changed by people who are over

their heads ignoring people who say

they’re in over their heads.

(but then--)

Bennet turns back from the window. Face set.

BENNET:

Terry Long.

(beat; what?)

The tests came back today. Terry

Long is positive. Football gave him

CTE. CTE told his brain to drink a

gallon of antifreeze. And then he

died.

(then)

I told you. There were going to be

more.

(after a pause--)

HAMILTON:

You’ve done great work. No one’s

going to blame you if you stopped

here. But I’d be lying to you if I

didn’t tell you how important your

next move is.

Pause. Wecht is taking in Bennet, waiting. Bennet and Wecht

HOLD a look, then Wecht sees it in Bennet’s face-

WECHT:

No one’s stopping anything.

INT./EXT. BENNET’S CONDO - DAY

Prema grabs her coat and purse to go out. Pauses by the

window. Where she sees Bennet sitting in his car in the

parking lot, deep in thought. And we cut to-

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