"Concussion," out in U.S. theaters on Christmas Day, stars Will Smith as Nigerian forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, who uncovered the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former Pittsburgh football players that died sudden and tragic deaths.

The Sony Pictures film, garnering awards buzz especially for Smith's performance, comes at a time where head trauma is a hot button topic in the multi-million dollar NFL industry.

A change could be taking place at a grassroots level, however, as writer-director Peter Landesman said the numbers for Pop Warner football, a children's football league, are "down as much as 35 percent."