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NARRATOR: Football.

A uniquely American sport.

It defines so many young men's lives.

It gives them a platform to build from,

A place to learn,

A way to think about themselves and the other players around them.

MIKE DITKA: Football is one of the great spectator sports,

And part of the reason is, it is a gladiator sport.

DENNIS GREEN: The strategy, with the movement of the ball,

All these things that make it such a beautiful game.

MIKE DITKA: People do hit each other,

and no one wants to take that part out of the game.

DEACON JONES: It's the greatest teacher in the world if he stayed

Because he learns teamwork.

He learns hardwork, determination,

competitive spirit.

Those five points are the points that make a champion,

And they make a champion football player,

champion senator,

champion president,

champion Corporate Exec. whatever it is.

The harder you have to train in life to prepare for something,

The better person you become.

ANNOUNCER: You run a route across the middle against this defense,

You do so at your own risk with Kam Chancellor in there.

NARRATOR: But now, football finds itself at a crossroads.

The physical nature of the game.

The very thing that makes it such a great training ground

for young men is being re-examined and considered.

And the effect on the sport is unknowable.

The film you are about to watch is about much more

than football.

It's about strength, It's about overcoming.

It's about everything the game of football is suppose to teach

the men who play it.

In towns across America during the football season,

the lights come on every Friday night.

And our most fearless kids step onto a field

with a level of violence that can shatter bodies.

And for some cause them to never take another step.

This is the story of one of those kids.

How he turned tragedy into grace.

This is the story of the Gridiron Heroes.

What is football?

Football is beautiful.

Football is massively popular.

Every Friday night in the fall, over 1 million boys

having survived a summer's worth of two-a-days

don pads and prepare to take the field.

Every year nearly 40 million tickets are sold

to NCAA Division 1 football games.

Last year, over 100 million people tuned in to watch

the Super Bowl,

making it the number 1 rated television program of all time.

JERRY JONES: 13 of the 14 highest viewed shows this year in television

were NFL football games.

NARRATOR: Football is an undeniable constant in the fabric

of American life,

And for many, football culture defines American culture.

It's in our blood. It's in our kids.

It's the great American sport.

It brings us together. It tears us apart.

It builds character and self-esteem.

It makes men out of boys. It creates.

Football is the ultimate team sport.

You have to be conscious you got a responsibility to everyone.

AL MICHAELS: I find the game to be very compelling.

You know a lot of life time relationships are forged

But sometimes it destroys.

Concussions, seizures, broken bones,

and for some, their life is changed forever.

MIKE DITKA: I think the game is a great game.

Nobody ever wants to see anybody get hurt.

Unfortunately, in football, people do get hurt.

DEACON JONES: Injuries can occur. They can occur. I can't soften that blow.

No matter what I tell you, I cannot soften that blow.

There are moments when the violence embedded in the game

can take an unthinkable toll.

CHRIS CANALES: Before the game even started,

I was with my girlfriend at the time,

I just had this weird feeling...

That something was going to happen.

She was like, 'Why don't you not play?'

So I told her, 'I'm gonna play it's our last home game.

If we win, we go to playoffs.'

COACH MIKE KIPP: The game was a special game.

It was the last game of the regular season.

It was a game we needed to win

in order to get into the playoffs.

EDDIE CANALES: My wife and I were at the game.

Chris was basically having the game of his life.

CHRIS: I had a great night.

EDDIE CANALES: He was always the smallest.

COACH KIPP: He was about 125 pounds, playing high school football,

But his heart took up most of his chest.

CHRIS [V.O.]: And I was having a really good game.

COACH [V.O.]: He made several touch down saving tackles

EDDOE [V.O.]: 8 tackles, 5 solo tackles

COACH [V.O]: He had an interception in the endzone.

EDDIE: He had a sack. Uh he was all over the place.

COACH KIPP: Unbelievable game. Probably the game of his life.

EDDIE: Came up on that one tackle

CHRIS: And then um everything changed from there.

COACH KIPP: Midway through the fourth quarter, just a routine play

um running back cuts back, Chris is there.

CHRIS: He was going one way; I was going the other,

trying to do a touchdown saving tackle.

COACH KIPP: He goes in low, and Chris's head hit about waist high.

CHRIS [V.O.]: Everything just slows down like you are doing a slow motion.

Going a 180 and kind of just fall to the ground

and trying to get up, hearing the crowd go silent

and then, seeing your teammates trying to come get you up

and you can't move and oh I knew right away.

PITA CANALES: When the doctor cleared the room and he said he had to talk to us

then the seriousness came about, and that's when we knew.

EDDIE [V.O]: And the doctor told us and gave us... need a word...

PITA [V.O.]: That Chris had broken his neck.

EDDIE [V.O.]: We were called into the room, and the doctor told us,

and gave us, you know, the word, that uh...

Chris would be paralyzed from the shoulders down.

NARRATOR: As Chris lay motionless on that field for 19 minutes,

It became clear he was fighting for his life.

Chris had suffered a spinal cord injury,

and even if he survived the next few days,

nobody in that stadium could have a true understanding

for the challenges Chris and his family were going to face.

BOBBY HOSEA: I think about the children that are paralyzed.

These little boys and I think about their parents,

and I can only imagine their first thought is,

I can't die now.

I can't die now.

Because whose going to look out for him if I'm gone.

That's what we're talking about.

EDDIE: We were not prepared for...

What we were going to see.

I think the reality of the injury

and the seriousness of the injury, really set home.

And we just sat there and cried.

COACH KIPP [V.O]: I still talk to kids on that team

that are affected by his injury.

You know they feel like it's their fault.

COACH KIPP: There were two kids that missed tackles before he got to Chris.

They feel like it's their fault.

I had one kid that blew an assignment.

He went the wrong way. He said 'Coach, I should've tackled him.

I went the wrong way.'

So there are several people's lives that were affected

By...by that...by that one play.

CHRIS: Well I just went downward, just shut down.

I didn't want to go to class. I didn't want to do anything.

PITA: Because he knew, no one knew what he was going through.

We didn't know what he was going through.

CHRIS: You are first injured, you feel so useless that you feel

I rather die than not be able to do anything, you know?

You just start thinking about everything.

You think about life in general, and then um you think about

what's life going to be further on down the road,

Being in a wheel chair and being paralyzed.

So I mean there is a lot when you are just stuck in your room,

there's a lot to think about,

and if you don't get your mind off it,

then you are just going to dwell on it.

So I mean depression really eats you up.

NARRATOR: From a four sport athlete with three college football offers,

to simply fighting to stay alive, Chris was being pushed

to his mental and physical breaking point.

CHRIS: When I was in ICU, I flat lined twice.

EDDIE: We almost lost Chris on three seperate occasions.

CHRIS: My graduation night on one of the medications I was on

I um I developed four episodes of seizures in my brain,

and I was eating a piece of apple pie

And it just went off and I ended up choking

And passing away for a little bit

and my dad revived me.

EDDIE: If the Lord had wanted him by his side,

He had three chances to take him.

He was here for a reason

COACH KIPP: About a year after Chris's injury,

he went to another football game

CHRIS: My dad knew I wasn't doing too good with depression

So he took me to what we loved in football

And um went to a State Championship game.

COACH KIPP: It was the first time he'ld really been out

[Marching Band Music]

And all of the sudden...

CHRIS: Then we witnessed another spinal cord injury.

COACH KIPP: I called Eddie and said did you hear that someone else got hurt.

And he said we were there.

COREY FULBRIGHT: They were at the game, and they watched the play when I got...

When I hit the guy, I broke my neck.

CHRIS: Seeing Corey Fulbright go down, snapped me out of it

And the first thing I went to do is go help.

COREY: Chris told his dad they needed to help us .

COACH: Chris told his dad,

EDDIE: "Dad, we got to go help him.

I know what he's going to go through"

CHRIS: It's really hard to get through this injury alone.

COREY: So they started Gridiron Heroes then.

NARRATOR: Chris had discovered his purpose.

Through their own great tragedy,

Chris and his father decided to reach out and lend a hand

to those dealing with the impossible,

But what could they do?

They weren't doctors or therapists.

What did they have to offer?

Chris didn't have to struggle long for an answer.

He offered himself. His heart and soul,

His compassion and understanding.

Eddie and Chris. Father and Son formed Gridiron Heroes with a

simple and powerful mandate

To help all those young men who go down on the football field

with catastropic spinal cord injuries.

Chris and Eddie's goal is to help the football player

and his family get through what will in the end

be the most difficult challenge they will ever face.

And before long people began to take notice of Chris and Eddie's

hard work.

One of the first to support them was Red McCombs,

philanthropist and entrepreneur, and former owner of the

San Antonio Spurs and Denver Nuggets Basketball teams,

And the Minnesota Viking's NFL Football Team.

RED MCCOMBS: Once you have a great tragedy,

Regardless of what the tragedy is in your life,

Your minister is going to respond,

Your friends are going to respond,

The family is going to respond,

But there is no response like someone whose been there

And when you get a response from someone whose been there

You help a brother. There's no way around it.

Percentage wise, there's probably not going to touch

Your family, but then we all know if it touches any one of us

It really touches all of us.

DR WISE YOUNG: There's one thing that every doctor hates,

And that's to be helpless, to do absolutely nothing

for a condition like a spinal cord injury.

JAMES GUMBERT: When you get a disability, it happens to you

Uh, as opposed to maybe being born with it, you don't get...

Just you doesn't get the disability,

everyone around you gets it.

Your family, your friends, and that anger you know um

that we get and everybody goes through

is something that uh you know a lot of your family and friends

feel too.

They get angry about the fact that this has happened

to their child or their brother or best friend,

And so it's a big deal, and there's not a giant guide book

to go through.

GRANT TAEFF [V.O]: From our own experience, uh 1979,

we had a player by the name of Kyle Woods from Dallas, Texas

get a head-to-head, helmet-to-helmet contact

in a practice, and the two guys went down

And Kyle's neck was fractured, and he was a quadriplegic

from that moment forward. He was 19 years old.

I talked to every coach that I hear about and that I know about

that has catastrophic injury

on his team, and I always make sure they know I'm here for them

that if there are any questions they have.

Because it's such a traumatic thing that everybody is going

through, and the coach is the leader

And he has to handle. He has to handle working with the family,

the youngester that was injured.

He has to deal with the community.

He has to deal with his own team and his coaches

who are many times are in traumatic shock

when they see something like that happen.

NARRATOR: David Edwards first team all-area defensive back

for Madison High School in San Antonio, Texas,

was paralyzed on the field during the first round

play-off game in 2003.

EDDIE: Chris and David were like brothers.

CHRIS: I could tell little things like he was cold or something

Or I would ask him, "Dude are you cold?"

And he would like kind of do this.

So I went and got a nurse get him a blanket.

EDDIE: They got closer and closer, and...

And David would come to the house to do some treatments

here at the house.

DAVID: Chris and Eddie of course helped me out a lot.

CHRIS [V.O.]: We would always go out to the games every friday night.

We'd always invite everybody to go out,

And David took to heart what we were doing.

DAVID: To that one big dream of walking again so...

EDDIE [V.O]: David...uh...he had been fighting pneumonia.

Pneumonia - for our kids- is something that we fear.

With the level of injury that they have,

They no longer have the chest muscles to cough...

EDDIE: To get out you know all the fluid in their lungs.

The congestion can be really tricky.

He was fighting pneumonia for about a year.

He had been in and out of the hospital fighting pneumonia.

Several months in a row, and he gave it his best.

CHRIS: He had gotten so weak from fighting it.

Being in and out of the hospital all the time,

And it finally got the best of him, so...

NARRATOR: When the Gridiron Heroes get word...

that a player has been injured,

Chris, Eddie, and a dedicated team pack up and find their way

to them and begin the long hard process of helping the fallen

player and his family adjust to tragedy.

KYLE CHANDLER: It's opening up your heart.

I mean it's taking all the pain he's gone through and sharing it

with someone else and helping that person get through

their pain. That's certainly... It can't be easy.

I mean he's got to relive everything he went through.

Every time he's helping people out.

CHRIS: The questions...the parents... and they are going to ask.

So we don't...we don't concentrate on the injury part,

We concentrate on how to help them.

BRAD LELAND: Because it's an incredible thing for a kid to be playing

and the next thing not only is his life possibly changed

forever, but his family's life is changed.

CHRIS: My dad gets calls... 2, 3, 4 in the morning.

How do you do this? What do I do if this happens?

BRAD LELAND: It's absolutely unbelievable that he gives that much...

and the strength that it must take for him not only...

overcome what he's dealing with, but to go try and help others.

I think he's unbelievable.

KYLE CHANDLER: Every time you meet someone who opens their heart up that much.

Everyone around them opens theirs up a little bit more too.

It's just the way it goes.

CHRIS: Our door is open to anybody, and we uh...

no matter what time of the day.

1...2 o'clock in the morning that's a down time...

PITA: That's a quiet time, and that's when you really start thinking,

And it all starts coming into play.

I mean he and his dad were in Dallas just this past weekend,

BRAD LELAND: Helping a kid whose just become part of this

Gridiron Heroes.

A new kid who went down from pinkston High School in Dallas

Went down two weeks ago, and Chris and his dad were

immediately on the scene to help him and his family...

which is what they do, help these people understand...

What it's going to be like, and give them hope.

KYLE CHANDLER: They help people go through all the stages, all the Bureaucracy

And everything that has to take place.

You know not just the emotional pain of everything,

But the logistics of what you have to do...

to get through this stuff with all this paperwork...

and all that too.

The question that you ask is answered...

as soon as you meet these guys.

You know you meet some people, and they are givers.

EDDIE: It's very hard to comprehend what...

...how your life is going to change.

And that was one of the things and one of the reasons

uh behind Gridiron Heroes.

Is that when we were going through this,

there was really no help. I mean there was no guidance.

PITA: That's something that people don't realize

Is that just a little change:

Is the door wide enough to get a wheelchair in?

What about the bathroom? Can he get into a bathroom?

EDDIE: Part of what we do with some of the families...

is to help them get through that first year.

Uh because you feel like you're all by yourself.

When...you have to understand...

when someone suffers spinal cord injury...

There's breathing problems,

There's urinary tract infections,

Loss of valve and bladder control,

Autonomic Dysreflexia, which affects your blood pressure

It's um...It's something that can be fatal.

The change is dramatic.

It's probably one of the most serious traumas...

that an individual can go through.

Because it affects your nervous system.

And then once that is affected well then...

Everything else is affected along with it.

JARED'S MOTHER: He's been playing football since he was 3

It was the first football game that I actually missed.

I said...well Jared good luck and play hard.

He was like, 'Ok Mom', gave me a kiss and...

about seven thirty, eight o clock...

I got a phone call saying that Jared had been injured.

They were about to rush him to Baylor.

When I got there, the trauma team had already made it

and they...they came out and explained to me what was going on.

Said that he had broken his neck and that he was paralyzed from the neck down.

So...

The reality for the doctor says 'zero'.

But for me I've seen my son walk several times in my dreams.

He would say, 'Mom even if I don't get to walk again

I want to be an architect. So just have them fix my hands'.

'Have them fix my hands cuz I want to be an architect'.

'I can draw'.

He was like, 'Save your money'

OK hun, I'm gonna save my money.

And I walked out of the room and I walked around the corner

and I prayed and I cried and I prayed.

He's my only son.

My only son.

What spinal cord injury does is it disconnects your brain

from the body below the injury site.

JAMES GUMBERT: The things that guys in chairs worry about...

...It's been my experience...

...is will I ever walk again?

Will I be able to have sex again?

And what the heck has just happened to me?

KYLE CHANDLER: I was unaware before I started making this program

of how many high school kids across the country, every year,

get injured and are paralyzed.

DR. WISE YOUNG: About half of people with spinal cord injury get severe pain

And a lot of people don't realize this.

JAMES GUMBERT: When you come back after a disability or trauma injury

and you say, 'Hey I'm just gonna run to the refrigerator,

open it up and get me something to drink'.

You can't do it.

Or, 'I'm gonna run in here and go to the bathroom'

And you can't get into your own bathroom in your own house.

Because the door is not wide enough.

And all of the sudden, this place that was safe for you

has now become impossible.

EDDIE: You are going to have to turn him every two hours

And if you don't do those pressure releasing methods bascially

You can get a big red spot that's a pressure sore

It can go all the way to the bone.

Some start out the size of an eraser.

But get to the size of a grapefruit.

And it can be very, very hard to get rid of.

DR. WISE YOUNG: If you don't take care of yourself very, very carefully

the likelihood that you might die of an infection or

some complication of spinal cord injury is there.

You have to be very careful.

NARRATOR: The Gridiron Heroes work tirelessly to raise money

through public outreach and events.

Like golf tournaments,

and this, Hollywood style benefit

NARRATOR: Devin was paralyzed on the field in 2007.

He had to take a Greyhound bus with his mother to one such event.

But thanks to the Gridiron Heroes and their numerous,

generous supporters

Devin and his mother would not have to take the bus home.

DEVIN'S MOTHER [over PA]: I have accepted my role and I thank God

that I have my son and I have the ability to take care of him

So I thank God for my new role in my child's life.

I had no support, my family doesn't live here

and strangers came and helped us.

So, don't ever give up on hope.

Stay positive and things will change.

And there are people that love others just like Eddie and his family

There are still people that really love people and care.

But keep us in your prayers and Gridiron Heroes

so they can continue

and hopefully they don't have to help too many more people.

NARRATOR: But even as the Gridiron Heroes work tirelessly to help the

fallen players off the field...

...tragedy continues to occur.

Paul Williams. I play wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans.

My brother Curtis...

...I kind of get choked up talking about it.

He played at the University of Washington

and ended up with his spinal cord injury

I was actually at the game at Stanford.

He went with his head down, and um...

kind of got rocked back a little bit.

At first, I was um... I kinda laughed a little bit.

I'm like, 'Oh Curt's gonna be mad when he gets up from that

because he's known as the big hitter.

And he didn't get up.

I just remember that feeling, it was kind of like I got

sick to my... sick to my stomach.

He was in a coma for two weeks.

He couldn't even breathe on his own.

Being in the profession that I'm in, it's like every time you put

on your cleats, every time you put on your pads...

I think about my brother, Curtis.

There's not a day that goes by

where I don't think about that.

And, um...I mean, it's hard not to think about it.

It's something that happens.

NARRATOR: For better or for worse

football is an extremely violent game.

My name is David 'Deacon' Jones.

Born in Eatonville, FL in the year of our Lord, 1938.

I rose out of the ashes of segregation

into the best defensive end to ever play this game.

I come to try and tear your damn head off.

That is why I am a lot reluctant

about advising anybody to play this game.

Because I know what my mental capacity was.

I'd take you down in a minute.

I'd put you in the hospital in a minute and didn't care nothing about it.

MIKE DITKA: After the fact we can all say, 'Well we don't want anybody to get hurt'.

You know, that's probably the risk of the playing the game.

And I think people like it because they realize it is a gladiator sport.

That's just the nature of the game.

Collisions happen fast, they are violent, the players are strong.

They are quick. They are coming at you with a purpose.

DENNIS GREEN: Football is definitely faster today than it was 20 years ago.

And so the collisions I think are bigger now than they were 20 years ago.

DEACON JONES: I've seen 70, 80 year-old grandmothers

up in the stands saying, 'Kill him! Take his head off!'

Because that's what they've come to see.

But then they'll be the first ones,

when somebody goes down with a serious injury...

...a tear comes out of their eye.

You understand what I mean?

Because, you know, they play both sides of the fence.

SPORTS FAN: It's like watching two donkeys fight over an apple, you know?

We get serious about football, you know.

We're gonna go there to put some hurt on somebody.

JERRY JONES: One of our coaches, Wilson Matthews,

was asked to give the prayer.

He said, 'Protect these boys'

'Have them play as good as they can'

'Have them represent their state well'

'Amen.'

'Now nail them to the cross.'

ANNOUNCER 1: Players on both teams have taken a knee.

ANNOUNCER 2: Brings back the reality of the game itself

and that it is a collision sport and a violent sport.

ANNOUNCER 1: He's talking to a family member

ANNOUNCER 2: It's a sick feeling, uh, in your stomach.

DEACON JONES: And these are hard words here

I can understand any parent out there who said, 'No my kid ain't gonna play this game.'

JERRY JONES: Football causes you to do very unnatural things.

The natural thing is to get out from in front of 300 pounds.

Not get in front of it.

MIKE DITKA: If you have improper technique...

...and you get your head caught down or to the side the wrong way...

You have a very good chance of hurting yourself.

DEACON JONES: You think people go to the automobile races

to watch the cars circle the track?

They go to watch the accident.

So the more violent you make things,

the more people come to participate.

I threw an interception and...

tackled the guy and broke my neck.

It was an option and I went to go get the safety so I was full speed.

From me to the safety and ran heads up and my neck went...

...just went back and snapped.

And from there, just couldn't move.

ALAN SCHWARZ: It will cause neurological damage.

There will be stretching, there may be bleeding.

There's all sorts of bad, you know, THINGS, that happen

when your brain sloshes into the side of your skull.

DEACON JONES: We're here as a unit...

...to destroy this football team

Now, how do you plan to destroy this football team?

You know what you got to do. You got to out-hit 'em.

You got to out-condition 'em.

You got all these things to beat them at.

And how you gonna fall in love with the guy?

It's like I see these guys circling with their prayer.

Ok. You go right ahead. I'll give you 30 seconds to pray.

Go right ahead if you think prayer gonna help you today.

Go right ahead.

This ain't about no prayer here.

If you ain't trained this week I'm gonna whip your brains out.

You and your Bible.

So, in terms of what happens when you have the head to head contact.

Two objects are coming at each other from opposite directions

It is like two cars coming together head on head collision

It's bad to lead with your head mainly because

You're gonna have a higher incidence of getting a brain injury from it.

Now, if you are bigger and faster and you do hit harder,

like a Mack Truck hitting a Volkswagen

Then you're not going to be injured.

The Volkswgen is going to be smashed.

So there's danger every way around.

If you have a grandson that's a Volkswagen...

...I wouldn't let him play the game.

Youngsters are more susceptible to injury,

they recover more slowly,

and forces that would not cause injury in an adult,

do cause injury in a youngster.

So the young brain is more easily traumatized.

ALAN SCHWARZ: For years and years and years,

football celebrated the guys who delivered the big hits.

whether they made them legally or not.

And whether they made the recklessly or not.

What mattered is whether you left the guy inert on the ground

after you tackled him.

And they would teach you how to run.

They would teach you how to pass.

They would teach you how to throw.

But they let you tackle however you wanted.

Or they'd say, even worse, 'Put a hat on him'

That was the word.

'Put a hat on him.'

Put your hat on him.

Put your helmet in their gut.

Which was indescribably dangerous both for your neck

and for your head.

And there really...stopped...

The proper tackling technique wasn't really taught very much.

DENNIS GREEN: What we've always tried to say is, you know,

'See what you hit and hit what you see.'

And what that will do is make you keep your head up.

And most of the injuries, they occur from the surprise

hits that occur when the head is in a vulnerable position.

DR. CANTU: The majority of concussions in football

occur when there is head-to-head contact.

ALAN SCHWARZ: But the idea of repetitive concussions

taking an overall toll

is entirely different.

The concern there is that if you get a concussion

and you let it heal

and then you get another concussion

and you let it heal and another concussion and you let it heal

you become more susceptible to them and you get 11 or 12

well that's going to have an accumulative effect

that you might not have had if you only had one concussion.

Also, we're not even sure if you get lots of sub-concussive blows

maybe a thousand 'almost concussion' blows

but not quite concussion blows, add up to have deleterious effects.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: When I was young and played football briefly

there were a couple of times where I'm sure

that ringing sensation in my head

and the need to sit down for a while

might have been a mild concussion.

And at the time you didn't think anything of it.

The awareness is improved today, but not by much.

BOBBY HOSEA: And everybody says, 'Oh, it's a tragic accident.'

It's tragic. But it's not an accident.

If it doesn't change, the game is going to die at the roots

because nobody's intelligence is gonna let their kid play.

And that's the problem.

Coaches don't have coaches.

There's no system of training that forces them to do

what's best for the kids.

ANNOUNCER 1: Watch the hit by Cockran.

Oh, you've gotta eject Theiren Cockran.

That is 'targeting'.

He drops his head, he launches

and it moves up into the head area.

I cannot believe Cockran was not called for targeting

and not only ejected from this game but then he would be

ejected from the first half of the second

ANNOUNCER 2: And he can barely stand up now.

ANNOUNCER 1: Boy, they have just got to get him out the ballgame.

ANNOUNCER 2: Yeah, I'm totally with you. He's gotta come out.

ANNOUNCER 1: Jay Morris cannot be going back into this game.

This young man looked groggy after that hit.

He's being put back on the field.

He can barely stand up.

I...I am... This...this is not good player management.

We've talked about player safety in this game.

Guys getting hit in the head.

This is atrocious to me.

This is not good player management and player safety by Michigan.

TV MAN: One of the mantras that people have talked about

who have been very serious about this issue for some time is...

When in doubt, you sit it out.

Because this is not the sort of thing you want to take a chance with.

If somebody takes a second hit after suffering a concussion

We're not just talking about being out for a few seconds

we're talking about having a catastrophic brain injury.

Even dying from that. That's Second Impact Syndrome.

And that's exactly what you are trying to prevent.

And I think that they fell down on the job when it came to this particular player.

ALAN SCHWARZ: Second Impact Syndrome [SIS] and the effect of cumulative hits

over time are entirely different things.

SIS takes place in rare cases where a concussion

has not healed and then another hit, even a relatively

minor one, causes a cascade of just terrible, terrible events

inside the brain that cause the brain inside the skull to swell.

And it swells so much that it tries to escape from the skull.

And of course it can't.

It can't go anywhere.

And you die.

It's a very quick death.

The cumulative effect of concussions can be more

of a slow one over decades.

BOBBY HOSEA: There are people that think that their kid is going to get a

scholarship.

They think that their kid may play Pro Football.

It's not gonna happen.

85% of youth football players don't even play high school

football.

one tenth of one percent of eveybody that wants to

play Pro Football, play Pro Football.

One tenth! Of one percent!

And there's a three and a half year career.

That's not a career. That's not even a good temp job.

Three and a half years is nothing.

So, you're gonna have a life long of injuries

for something that's not even going to happen for you.

DR. CANTU: I'm also a parent and so I obviously have a

passion for this area

that transcends just the medical issues.

We're trying to make sports safer for youngsters.

We're trying to allow youngsters to enjoy sports.

But have no long term ramifications

or any inuries coming out of those sports.

NARRATOR: Is the game of football too violent?

Are the risks just too high?

Or should we instead pledge to honor and support

those who have given their bodies to the game

And understand that all things

even things that are supposed to be pure and good

come with risk.

Skiing.

Hockey.

Soccer.

Baseball.

They all have risk.

But while we as adults and parents have a responsibility

to make sure these games are as safe as possible

for our children

Many argue the games themselves should not be condemned.

That too much good comes from sports.

CHRIS: Even when I was laying up in the hospital bed

I was still watching football.

MRS. CANALES: I've always loved football and will continue to love football.

COACH: Football is a great game for contact

and the physical kind of activity that young men need.

DR. WISE YOUNG: It builds personalities, it builds strenghts,

it builds character.

It's a wonderful game.

EDDIE: We still love the game of football.

And I try to always, when I address coaches and parents,

to make sure that they understand

we are not out to deter anyone from playing ball.

MIKE DITKA: It's given me everything I had

as a player, assistant coach, a head coach.

So I love the game of football.

JERRY JONES: I don't think the sun comes up and ends with the game of football

although I own the Dallas Cowboys.

But I do know that it has served young people

and has been an inspiration and been a training ground

for millions of young people over many, many years.

AL MICHAELS: For kids starting out who are playing football

they are going to learn a lot about teamwork.

They're going to learn a lot about organization

They are going to learn that, you know, hey,

'If I'm gonna do this...

...I'm a part of a bigger picture.

I'm one of eleven guys'.

DEACON JONES: And that's what comes out of the game.

Nobody remembers how much money they made from year to year.

But you remember those different times

that you were with this group of guys.

And it's a part... You want your kid to be a part

of the great game.

JERRY JONES: You can develop an indifference to pain

or you can develop a 'playing through being tired'.

And on the way you really call on a lot of character.

Now, I've heard it said, 'character is not developed

by football or sports, it's just called upon.'

I disagree with that.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And obviously there's a huge public health interest

in making sure that people are participating in sports.

But sports is just fundamental to who we are as Americans

and our culture.

We're competitive, we're driven,

and sports teaches us about teamwork and hard work

and what it takes to succeed not just on the field

but in life.

GRANT TEAFF: I know that the value of our game outweighs

the chance that one would have to become injured.

But it is my responsibility and our coaches responsibility

and every stakeholder in the game of football

to do everything in our power to make this game as safe

as it can possibly be.

And if we do that, then we have enhanced opportunities

of countless thousands of young people

to have the same opportunity to learn from men that they

can love and respect.

Not only how to win but how to handle losing

and to develop yourself in an environment,

a team environment,

that creates leadership, that creates initiative,

that fosters the development of the person

within that environment.

You bet I recommend football.

JERRY JONES: You have to have blind faith to play football.

In your coach. You have to have blind faith

that if you'll do as instructed, that while initially

it's not working, it will work.

And personally, I've called on it a lot

way beyond football.

DENNIS GREEN: I think the soul of football is comraderie.

That's why if you look at the Ivy League schools

they don't give scholarships.

So guys have to pay their own way,

they pay 50,000 dollars.

But you have so many tryout for their freshman football team

all as walk-ons.

And the reason is, the guys that you meet when you're a freshman

football player are guys that you're probably going to

know for the rest of your life.

It's that comraderie about the game that is such a draw.

NARRATOR: Is there a way to play football more safely?

to lower the probability of spinal cord and brain injury?

Right now we need to make effective steps

that make the game as safe as possible

so that we can enjoy it.

Because it is America's game.

A lot of these injuries are led to by

leading with one's head.

And if you do that, you're putting yourself at risk.

There's no question about that.

DR. CANTU: In making a proper tackle...

It should be made with the hands.

It should be made with the body.

And a large use of the shoulders.

The hands should never be behind the head.

The head should never be lowered.

The head should never be the initial point of contact.

DR. WISE YOUNG: And you hit that person with the top of your head

your spine will break.

Most spinal cord injuries in football occur

in the act of tackling.

About two-thirds of them.

And tackling improperly.

Tackling with the head down in what we call

the Axial Lode Position

taking the brunt of the blow to the vertex of the head.

DR. WISE YOUNG: When this happens, either bone or discus

retropulsed into the spinal cord and it...POP!

DENNIS GREEN: And the helmet is not a weapon, it's a protection.

ALAN SCHWARZ: But as far as the forces go...

...if you hit someone with your head

you are more likely to make your head stop quickly.

You are also very likely to make the other guy's head go WHOOSH!

And it's gonna create large accelerations and decelerations

of your head, but your brain ain't gonna know it.

And it's gonna go, CRACK!

MIKE DITKA: When you have people striking with their head

and you have two helmets colliding

something's gotta give.

ALAN SCHWARZ: Your head's gonna stop.

And it's gonna stop fast!

Your skull is going to stop. BOOM!

DR. CANTU: The impact causes a violent shaking of the brain

inside the skull.

MIKE DITKA: I've had four hip replacements.

I need a shoulder replaced.

I don't know where my mind will be in ten years

I really don't.

But I think one of the main concerns

of the people in the game

has to be the safety of the players

DR. CANTU: Using the helmet as the initial point of contact

in blocking and tackling

works in the shorthand for that particular play

effectively achieving what you want.

But it is putting your head and your neck

at greater risk of long term injury.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

is a progressive, degenerative, neurological condition

in many ways analogous to Alzheimer's Disease

although trauma is what sets it up.

And it leads to a triad of progressive mental

deteriorations, starting with

recent memory and progressive over time to

frank dementia.

It involves, also, loss of impulse control

and a very high incidence of depression.

Forever, youngsters have emulated

those who play the sports at the highest level.

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH [announcing]: And Al, there was plenty of time to react on that one.

That is...awful.

That's how people get seriously hurt in this game.

Kids see that and they think

because it's exciting

that's who they want to be.

That's how they want to tackle.

And we fight that every day.

We get kids who try to

emulate, you know, that action.

It's a battle. It's a battle.

And it's hard to explain to them that this guy who's in the Pros,

that should know everything there is to know about hitting,

that he doesn't.

The payoff is you got a kid that tackles safely.

And he's gonna have a healthy life after football.

Some people don't.

ALAN SCHWARZ: Now the helmet protects you enough where you can

use your head as a weapon.

And people did. You know why?

Because it worked.

But it came with a cost.

That a lot of people didn't recognize until it was too late.

And we're now seeing that cost manifest itself

in the cognitive impairment

and other problems

that older football players are experiencing

and some younger ones.

AL MICHAELS: As a player, you just have to be taught...

...here are the fundamentals

this is what I need to do when I'm tackling somebody

or blocking somebody or being blocked.

ANTHONY MELILLO: You still see Pros to this day

dropping the heads, tackling incorrectly,

eyes to the gound.

Because that's the way they were taught

when they were a youth and in high school.

That's how they were taught.

And these youth players, they look up to

professional athletes.

That's who they want to be.

Their dream goal at this youth football level

is to be in the NFL.

So they're gonna want to do what that NFL player does.

JEFF LEETS: When you think about it

kids are putting on pads and tackling as young

as seven years old.

Those are babies.

Those are people's babies.

Those are, uh...

They're trusting you as a coach

to do the right thing.

And I think that's the way coaches feel.

We have a huge responsibility to those

that we teach and coach.

A great responsibiliy to teach them the right things,

the right way, to set the right example.

MIKE DITKA: I think anything you can do within the rules

to encourage safety of the players is encouraged.

I think we have to do whatever you can do in that area.

I think it is essential that this happens.

If this doesn't happen,

we're gonna continue to have a number of injuries

that'll continue to mount and mount and mount

where people are going to say, parents are going to say,

'Well, I'm having second thoughts about letting

my children play the game.'

JEFF LEETS: Horrible stuff happens when safety goes

out the window when it comes to tackling.

MIKE DITKA: Nobody wants to go through life paralyzed.

And these things can happen if you do things the wrong way.

JAMES GUMBERT: So for me...

where I feel like I've bottomed out.

was once I got home.

Six months to a year after my initial injury.

And, and, tried to... think I was going to come home

and reclaim my life the way that it was before.

And it wasn't.

There wasn't anything anyone could do about it.

ALAN SCHWARZ: Football is going to have to adapt to recent discoveries

as to the dangers of head injuries, concussions,

and other things that take place on football fields.

[TV STATIC]

ANCHORMAN: A high school player on Long Island, New York

suffered a head injury yesterday and died.

He is the third high school player to die in the past week.

You know, there's been a lot of talk about concussions

the last couple of years.

And I, I don't think that's going away anytime soon.

I think we're just starting to find out more about them.

And it's scary. It is scary.

But for me, the damage is done.

NEWS REPORT: Head injuries among amateurs are not rare

All football players including high schoolers

Have a 75% chance of suffering a concussion.

Between 136,000 and 300,000 sustain one

each year.

BRETT FAVRE: I'm hoping that I'm going to be the exception and

don't have residual effects.

Then I think, wait, you played 20 years.

I mean, you played. You were not on a team.

You 'played' for 20 years, and so...

And you know, great.

But, what have you done long term?

I don't know.

NEWS REPORT: Now there are studies being done on the brains of former NFL

players looking at advanced dementia.

What they show is three times the rate of depression

Five times the rate of dementia in people who have

three concussions or more.

BRITISH NEWS ANCHOR: These brown blotches mark the accumulation of

towel protein - an abnormal substance that can

emerge within the brain after repeated blows to the head.

TERRY MORAN: We're going to turn now to the alarming discovery

providing some answers to the questions surrounding

the suicide of NFL great and father of four,

Junior Seau.

NEWS REPORTER: The night before he shocked everyone by shooting himself

Seau sent out this short phone text of love.

And what did he say?

SEAU'S SON: Just three words.

I love you.

NEWS REPORTER: A gunshot to the chest. Some speculating

he knew his brain needed to be preserved for examination

ABC News and ESPN have learned exclusively that Seau's brain

showed signs of CTE - Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

the concussion related injury that is at the center of today's

football safety controversy.

FEMALE NEWS REPORTER: A shocking suicide by former NFL player draws attention

to the hard hitting game of football.

Former Chicago Bears safety, Dave Duerson

was found dead last Thursday.

He shot himself in the chest because he told family members

he wanted doctors to study his brain.

He left a note and text message asking for his brain to be studied

Reading: Please see that my brain is given to the NFL's brain bank.

TV MAN: He shot himself in the chest as well.

It's a very unusal way, a rare way for one

to commit suicide.

It's hard to talk about but in Duerson's case

he left that note that Paul was sort of alluding to saying,

I shot myself in the chest, I'd like my brain to be studied.

Duerson's brain was studied.

In fact he did have exactly what he was concerned about.

It is with mixed emotions that my family and I

stand before you today

It is my greatest hope that his death will not be in vain

and that through this research

his legacy will live on

and that others won't have to suffer in the same manner.

NARRATOR: From the ultimate vision of speed, strength, and health

to severe mental and physical disability

In the blink of an eye or the course of a career

what can be done?

MIKE DITKA: I think it would be a great thing to have these clinics

put on by college, Pro, high school coaches.

where they teach kids to tackle.

DENNIS GREEN: I think by emphasizing the proper techniques

starting with young kids and the technique of never

using your head as a projectile

never hitting with your head down

I think if we are able to keep emphasizing that

then I think we'll make a big difference.

CODY WILLIAMS: I'm not saying that I would have gotten hurt or not

I'm just saying that if a lot of kids knew the proper way to tackle

then that would help prevent a lot of injuries.

Not just neck injuries but also concussions too because...

a lot of kids just tackle with their head.

NARRATOR: There is one man, Coach Bobby Hosea,

a former UCLA football player who runs camps that teach

one thing, and one thing only:

How to tackle more safely.

ALAN SCHWARZ: There's this fellow in California

named, Bobby Hosea,

who has all but given his life

to teaching kids how to tackle more safely.

So that football can continue in much the same way it

always has with kids getting hurt less often.

By keeping their head up

and out of the tackle.

Injuries that occur to the spinal cord,

injuries to the neck, or concussions

all come from hitting with your head.

DEACON JONES: See, I ain't never hit nobody with my head.

I ain't puttin my head in there.

That's what you should teach a kid.

Watch the head. Keep that head up!

That's what you teach him.

MIKE DITKA: I think that's essential that they teach it that way.

And if they can teach keeping the head out of it

or keeping the head up.

Like we say, 'keep the head up'

I think you're gonna have a heck of a lot less concussions

and neck injuries.

BOBBY HOSEA: This game is not about destruction.

This game is about building.

Character.

Physical Fitness.

Toughness.

Intestinal Fortitude.

All those things.

BOBBY HOSEA [O.S.]: Take it for a ride now! Go for a ride! Get in the air!

The football players are made they're not born.

This is an acquired skill.

This is an acquired knowledge.

Hips control the head but the arms...

accelerate the hips.

And so when the hips accelerate the head will accelerate.

It will come up and away from the ball carrier.

And once they learn that...

now there's no longer any fear.

BOY 1: He teaches how to tackle, and dip and rip

BOY 2: Not to use my head in the tackle

BOY 3: Keep your head up so you don't break your neck

BOY 4: Other kids that come to this camp

because you can tackle correctly so you won't get a brain injury

in football

LADY: I work at a high school so I watch the high school kids

and I kind of ask them like, 'how do you tackle?'

And they still think its like head first

BOBBY HOSEA: Where's the head go?

GROUP: Up!

BOBBY HOSEA: Does it go to the side?

GROUP: No!

BOBBY HOSEA: Does it go down?

GROUP: No!

BOBBY HOSEA: Where do we want the head every single time?

GROUP: Up!

BOBBY HOSEA: Up.

ANTHONY MELILLO: In the last 20 plus years, good coaches,

well intentioned coaches have been saying keep your head up

Just saying keep your head up isn't enough

There's a distinct difference between telling a player

"Keep your head up."

vs going through a comprehensive tackle program that will instill

muscle memory.

They need to go to mandatory tackle camps

So when it comes game time, when it comes crunch time,

They don't need to think about, "Oh I need to keep my head up."

They just do it.

MIKE DITKA: There should be clinics that teach them how to tackle

especially at the young ages, grade school, high school, and

Well... I'll tell you right now...

You don't practice tackling in the NFL

That's a foregone conclusion that you know how to tackle

when you get there.

And you are going to get the guy on the ground anyway you can.

And I play with a lot of players

who got the guy on the ground any way they could.

JEFF LEETS: Have you ever walked on to the field

and seen a kid laying there motionless?

You know, have you ever tried to help a kid up

and he's dizzy from contact and he's throwing up

Because his concussion is already setting in?

Have you ever seen or heard about a kid breaking his neck

And not being able to move? He's paralyzed or even worse death.

Because those things happen and they happen

because people are not informed or they are ignorant

and they are stubborn and they don't want to change anything

and that is a problem.

and until we get something in place such as Bobby's program

It's going to continue.

BOBBY HOSEA: The only way it can be fixed is if there is a mandatory

tackle training curriculum.

JEFF LEETS: It's not about anything but keeping these kids safe

and making sure that when they are older

That they look back on this and it was a positive experience

and that they are healthy and that they feel good

And they love football.

NARRATOR: But until the day comes when brain and spinal cord injuries

Are eliminated from the field completely,

People like Cody Williams and his family will need the help

of the Gridiron Heroes.

CODY WILLIAMS [V.O.]: I could like barely breathe. All I could do is like blink

That's like the only movement I had.

CODY'S MOM: I was always the first one at the game.

One of the first people at the game

because I wanted to get the best seat to see him come out.

I just saw black and then just fell and couldn't feel anything

You want to hug them and make everything better,

And I couldn't touch him.

CODY: Cause I was like crying on the field

cause I just didn't know what was going on.

But then I just...it was kind of hard to breathe and stuff so

It was kind of hard to cry.

So I just stopped crying.

But they were like you have a really serious break

in your neck and everything

And I was just like...I was like in shock from it.

I never thought that would happen, but...

CODY'S MOM: The Gridiron Heroes reached out to me while Cody was in ICU

MUSIC: One by One we fly along

We fly along to the beat of the drum

The beat of the drum keeps the spirit alive

CHRIS: How you doing, man? Chris.

CODY: Cody. Nice to meet you

CHRIS: Good to meet you.

EDDIE: How you doing, Cody? I'm Eddie. Nice to meet you.

EDDIE: Alright, Good to see you.

MUSIC: The beat of the drum keeps the spirit alive.

Spirit's alive till the day that you die

Oooooooo

Oooooooo

CODY: There's a chance I could be in a wheelchair for

The rest of my life, and...

But I believe I'll walk again.

I just have a feeling.

NURSE: Cody is definitely very competitive by nature.

Football isn't a game where you just sit out,

and wait on the sidelines for things to happen.

CHRIS: What we learn in football you never give up.

Right? The never quit attitude.

And so we instill that with the injury.

That we're not going to give up.

CHRIS: For some reason in my dream, I'm never in a wheelchair

All my dreams are like I was before.

Never in a wheel chair but there are times that in a way

the wheelchair will be with me.

CHRIS [V.O.]: I had one dream where I was training for something

I would sling my wheelchair on the back and run up the hill.

CODY: I've dreamed that I was at school again walking.

I've dreamed I was playing football again.

I've had all like good dreams.

CODY: Well it's been a little over two years since my injury,

And I can walk on a treadmill with a harness on it.

I'm able to walk on a walker for about 40 feet now.

NARRATOR: And now after years of work, the Gridiron Heroes find themselves

recognized in a way they could have never dreamed possible.

Eddie Canales and the Gridiron Heroes have been nominated

for their work as one of CNN's Top Ten Heroes

of the year.

The star-studded award ceremony would be held in Los Angeles,

But first, the Canales family would spend time

with their friends and supporters

at a surprise party in the Hollywood Hills.

GROUP: Surprise!!!

[Clapping and cheering]

[MUSIC] You're leaving now and I can't believe

The time arrived much to soon

Then comes the time when I'll be too...

EDDIE: It's been neat just to meet the other Honorees

Um...It's also very humbling

We all have our passion

for the organizations that we're working for,

But we all have something in common and that is...

we're all reaching out toward to our fellow human beings

And trying to make a difference and change lives.

And trying to make a difference and change lives.

We're hoping that what eventually will come out of this

is that more and more of the people in the football community

that..that actually love the game, embrace the game, and...

support the game can see what we do

how we...how we affect the lives of these young men,

And that we may be able to get the help

from within governing bodies of football...

From the football community in general

So that we can make a big difference

in these young men's lives.

NARRATOR: And now the moment had arrived.

It was time to hit the red carpet

LAURA DERN: I am very excited to learn more about Eddie Canales

and his son Chris.

RICK FOX: Hi, this is Rick Fox here at the CNN Heroes Awards

celebrating many heroes, but one in particular,

Eddie Canales and his son, Chris.

SULLY SULLENBERG: I'm Captain Sully Sullenberger

And I'm here to hear amazing stories including those of

Eddie Canales and others.

Hi I'm Holly Robinson Peete

And I want to give a special shoutout of support to

Eddie Canales, Gridiron Heroes, and his very brave son Chris.

PIERS MORGAN: I think Eddie Canales and the Gridiron Heroes

Absolutely sum up what CNN Heroes is all about.

This is a shoutout

to Eddie Canales and his son Chris from Gridiron Heroes

Well Done. Congratulations. Keep it going.

EDDIE: To be out here, it is uh...you know it's come full circle

for us, and...

to get this much attention, walk the red carpet...

to bring our calls out to the forefront...

it's just been awesome.

I'm grateful and I'm blessed to have them in my life.

For me, they are my heroes. I look up to Eddie.

Words can't explain.

To have the honor of being able to present him tonight

To have the honor of having the chance

To hang out with their family

To know what they are all about was...you know...

It means a lot to me.

REX LINN: We're glad to be here...and supporting him.

Be on his side, we're all on his team tonight.

So we're... Chris is the Quarterback tonight.

KURT WARNER: That's what I notice with Chris is that he's not going to allow

what happened to him hold him down.

He's going to use that tragedy and...

use it to try to impact other people.

Yeah.

Chris is a better man now than he ever was...

Because of what he's able to do now.

Because of the courage that he had to say,

'You know what this is a catastrophe that I suffered,

but I'll live through it again and again and again and again.

just to make sure all these kids who suffer the same injury

have someone there for them, have someone around them.'

CHRIS: For me, it's...uh...the hard work I put into

getting my mobility back, getting uh to move my arms.

And just having a good spirit about and good attitude about

my injury,

and to be here now is just totally awesome.

EDDIE: We cheered these young men on the football field.

Let's make sure we don't forget them now. Thank you very much.

COACH KIPP: The main thing I would tell Chris is that,

I'm proud of what he's done to help other people

that have gone through what he's gone through.

And I think he's showing them,

not only that they can overcome it,

But that they can acheive in their life.

CHRIS: You never know what's going to happen down the road.

Helping the other guys and getting to this point,

Where I don't really think about myself any more.

I think about others... and for me...It's...

I tell my story and I never think about myself.

It's not about me anymore.

NARRATOR: The Gridiron Heroes didn't win that night.

They didn't have to.

They had already won.

Many more thousands of people and growing are made aware

of safer ways to play the game.

Because like Chris and Eddie,

the hope is for the game to go on,

And stay deeply embedded into the fiber of America.