dr. robert stern. the nfl denies that, and says it is setting the grant aside for another project.nd emails made public from the sony hacking studio, seem to indicate the nfl tried to avoid wrath by softening parts of the film. >> that wouldn't surprise me, because they have down played the concussion situation for such a long time. >> reporter: this is an nfl hall of fame guard. >> if the nfl did have a way of alternating or altering it in anyway, of course they are going to try to soften it. >> reporter: it should be noted sony pictures has no formal business relationships with the nfl. and the film's director strongly denies any effort to soften the story. as for players like this man, he is one of thousands of former players collectively awarded close to a billion dollars. he says he is keeping his grandchildren away from the game he once loved. >> i have five grandsons -- or do we have six? >> six. >> six grandsons, but i really don't want them playing. >>> doctor robert glader, the director of sports medicine and traumatic brain injury, discussed whether parents should risk l

dr. robert stern. the nfl denies that and the group handing out the nfl's money said it's setting the grant aside for another project. emails made public from the sony hacking scandal seemed to indicate the studio tried to avoid the nfl's wrath by softening some parts of the film. one august 2014 email from senior studio executive reads: >> that wouldn't surprise me, because they've downplayed the concussion situation for such a long time. >> joe is an nfl hall of fame guard. >> if the nfl did have a way of alternating the film or altering it in any way, of course they're going to try to soften it. >> it should be noted sony pictures has no formal business relationships with the nfl and the film's director strongly denies any effort to soften the story. as for players, one of thousands collectively awarded close to a billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit, he said he's keeping his grandchildren away from the game he once loved. >> i've got five grandkids or do we have six? six grandsons. i re

dr. robert stern, who has been controversial with some comments against the nfl, the concussion settlemente you, they're angry he's leading this research. but for my purposes at this point as you look at this and this week of all weeks with the concussion movie coming out, let it go. let the survey go. let the research go. if it's your chief critic, then take those answers and be better off for it. >> what better way to have credibility for the report? now, cbs "60 minutes" aired a report last month on the nfl. i want to play something roger goodell told cbs's steve kroft. >> are you concerned about what they may find? >> no, we don't. >> worried that you're sowing the seeds of your own destruction? >> no, we want facts. we think the facts will help us develop better solutions. and that's why we're advancing medical research. >> we want the facts, goodell says. and then they pull support for the study. >> yeah. and again, the pr nightmare of this, jake, to me is the issue. because the nfl is funding other projects. they've sent that up to eight projects. roger goodell has kids that play sp

dr. robert stern. >> it was clear they were expected to fund this study and they are not. >> reporter: he is an espn reporter and co-author of the article. >> the nfl rejected to him. they questioned whether he could remain impartial. the nfl adamantly died the ticle's claim that t t nfl did not pull funding from the bu study and they wrote the nih makes all funding and nfl has no retow power. >> everyone who has been diagnosed with cte has one thing in common and a history of repetitive hits to the head. >> reporter: on study the doctor said the study is more important than the nfl. whether the nfl iss funding or not funding, that is really irrelevant to the work itself. we just want to get going. >> reporter: the 16 million dollar study is largely based on detecting chronic traumatic encephalopathy or cte, a brain disease in the living. during a "60 minutesb interview last month, roger goodell talked about the brain research donation to boston university. >> reporter: are you concerned about what they may find? >> no, we don't. >> reporter: you're sowing the seeds of your own destructio

dr. robert stern. the nfl deny that is and the group handing out the nfl's money said it's setting the grant aside for another project. emails made public from the sony hacking scandal seemed to indicate the studio tried to avoid the nfl's wrath by softening some parts of the film. one august 2014 email from senior studio executive reads: >> that wouldn't surprise me, because they've down played the concussion situation for such a long time. >> joe is an nfl hall of fame guard. >> if the nfl did have a way of alternating the film or altering it in any way, of course they're going to try to soften it. >> it should be noted sony pictures has no formal business relationships with the nfl and the film's director strongly denies any effort to soften the story. as for players, one of thousands collectively award road close to a billion dollars to settle a class action lawsuit. he said he's keeping his grandchildren away from the game he once loved. >> i've got five grandkids or do we have six? six grandsons.