Meg Dudley, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2024, American Film Institute, Development Award

Project Type: Feature 

Genre: Drama

Field of Science: Neuroscience, Neuropathology

Stage: Development 

Synopsis: 

TEXAS, 1970s: GREG was a National Champion, All-American defensive tackle at the University of Texas, where he played scholarship football in order to pursue his degree in his true passion, art…

And DEB was his wife.

Quiet yet soulful, Deb was the love of Greg’s life, and together they built a simple, happy life together– teaching, raising their children, leaving his college football glory days in the past… aside from the weekly tailgate during football season down in Austin, of course.

TEXAS, 2010s – Now both in their 60s, Deb spends her days isolated, caring for Greg, who, once a brilliant artist and orator, can no longer complete a puzzle meant for a three-year-old, let alone a sentence. Based on his symptoms, medical history, and research, she is convinced that that that his cognitive decline was caused by head trauma while playing football all those years ago, though no one else will believe it, even her local doctors are skeptical of this “new” disease CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

After Greg’s death and confirmation that he suffered from Stage IV CTE, the typically unassuming and underestimated Deb finds herself an integral part of the boots on the ground movement advancing CTE research and advocacy. She joins those at the forefront of the fight for change surrounding this “newly discovered” degenerative dementia, the majority of whom it turns out, are women – mothers, daughters, widows – those left behind to pick up the pieces after this disease devastated their families and the men they loved. Along with leading researchers, doctors, and the female director of the BU Center for CTE, Deb must face the backlash of her small Texas town, widespread denial, and worse, indifference, in her quest to save lives, and find meaning in her own.

Finally, Deb risks it all, stepping into the spotlight with a landmark case seeking justice from the NCAA and exposing their history of lies and exploitation in the name of turning a mighty profit. At the end of the day, Deb learns that even with science and reason on your side, it is an uphill battle to sway hearts and minds… but a drop in the ocean of change is worth it.

The story is told by moving back and forth in time spanning 50 years, through the lens of Deb and Greg’s relationship, and culminating with Deb’s landmark legal battle against the NCAA. Some of the elements shaping this timely story are the complexities of emerging science and advocacy, especially when helmed by women, and especially when it concerns America’s most beloved (and lucrative) sport. But by keeping their love story and humanity at the heart of this narrative, it is a deeply intimate portrayal of life and loss at the hands of this disease. Based on a true story.