mckee soon had three brains, all with cte, but rather than just publish in scientific journals, chris nowinski was determined to get the word out. >> nowinski, who is not a scientist, says, "there are people getting hit here. if we speak up now, we may be able to, if not save lives, at least prevent the damage that we are seeing on ann mckee's table." >> narrator: nowinski decided to take on the nfl in a very public way: at their biggest event, the 2009 super bowl. >> ♪ all right, what a night it's finally here. ♪ super bowl sunday's kicking into high gear... ♪ >> narrator: the glitz and glamour of the nfl production machine was in full gear, developed over decades. highly choreographed. >> ♪ running and hitting with all their might... ♪ yeah, everyone's ready... >> narrator: a national event with a carefully crafted story. >> ♪ the whole world's ready, kick that ball off the tee ♪ because the super bowl rocks on nbc. ♪ >> narrator: in tampa, before the big game, nowinski and mckee tried to crash the festivities by holding a press conference. >> this is the genius of nowinski, really, i mean,