. >> so now schwarz calls up the nfl to get a response, and what he gets from greg aiello, the leagueore denials. they're now denying their own study. >> narrator: aiello insisted the study's design was flawed, but now the nfl's concussion crisis was again national news. >> and so it's becoming almost impossible for the nfl to ignore it. >> narrator: at the same time, another force was also causing trouble for the nfl and the commissioner: the wives and widows of players with cte. >> i don't think anyone else but the wives, sisters, mothers, daughters, and ann mckee, could have forced this issue into american consciousness. >> narrator: eleanor perfetto was one of them. her husband, ralph wenzel, had played for the pittsburgh steelers. >> as the disease progressed, he went from being ill but fairly functional to getting to the point where he could no longer, you know, dress or feed himself. and in the last year and a half to two years before he died, he couldn't even walk anymore. >> narrator: she'd spent years trying to get help from the nfl and its players association. then perfetto