With a goal to become a big success off the field, former Georgia Tech and NFL running back Dorsey Levens simply wanted to break into the film industry.
But his current film project “Bell Rung” — a documentary that he hopes will get picked up by a major cable TV network — has him waking up in the middle of the night, fretting over his role in the swirling controversy about suicides, concussions and insurance policies for former NFL players.
Normally, he arises to ponder the mental state of any one of the nearly 35 former players he has interviewed for the project at his Buckhead home.
He usually hopes that a player’s frustration doesn’t spill over the top and push him to edge of living or dying. Or, he wonders, aloud, why the $9 billion business-side of the NFL can’t just wave a magic wand and make these ailments go away.
Ironically, Levens, who played 10 years in the NFL and has a Super Bowl ring from his days with the Green Bay Packers, started the documentary about 18 months ago. That was long before Ray Easterling and Junior Seau became the latest NFL alumni suicide victims.
The sleepless nights have been one of the unintended consequences of filming the project, of which Levens is the executive producer with his high school buddy, Nick Basta.
Since Levens wrapped up 21 interviews over a weekend in mid-April, Easterling and Seau have committed suicides and shoved the issue of concussions to the forefront of the offseason. The timing was not good for Levens’ sleep patterns.
“I didn’t sign up for this,” Levens said. “Now, guys think like I’m the official spokesperson for concussions in the NFL. That’s far from the truth. I’ve just been doing some interviews and letting people know about the documentary. However, I do know a lot about the issue.”
He acknowledges the extreme stress associated with finishing the project. One player called last week, telling Levens about his persistent headaches, how he couldn’t afford treatment and how he didn’t plan to continue living if he didn’t get treatment.
Levens helped the player get in touch with Mike Ditka’s group, Gridiron Greats. They help former players who are under-insured. But Levens doesn’t know if the player will follow-up or if he’s going to see the player’s name scroll across the bottom of the TV screen as the latest suicide victim.
“I’m all for helping guys, don’t get me wrong,” Levens said. “But this is a lot.”
In the film, ex-NFL player and former Falcon Jamie Dukes explained that he was basically un-insurable after his 10-year career. He had to start a business in order for his family to get insurance.
“There is a pension,” Dukes said. “There are resources that are sitting there, that are available to take care of the problem. I think it’s like a billion dollars. ... That part kind of fell through the cracks during the [recent] collective bargaining process. It’s just one of those things where there are some issues that need to be taken care of and as of right now, they are not being taking care.”
Former New England and Philadelphia cornerback Ellis Hobbs’ story is featured in the documentary. He suffered a career-ending injury on a kickoff return after being hit in the head by Dave Tollefson of the New York Giants in 2010.
His family is bitter and alleges that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie never spoke to Hobbs after the injury and that the NFL featured the hit as a “highlight.”
Hobbs, who has made the transition to a job with Atlanta-based Pro Locker Room, a luxury membership club exclusively for professional athletes, is going through the worker’s compensation process.
“I’ve been waiting for that to get finalized,” Hobbs said. “It’s been a year and half almost, and I’m just really waiting on that. ... It hasn’t moved forward or backwards.”
Atlanta has one of the largest NFL Alumni chapters. Several of the players have been very cooperative with Levens’ project, dropping by on the weekends to put on a microphone and sit in one of his cushy black leather chairs to talk about head trauma.
In addition to Dukes and Hobbs, some of the former and current NFL players interviewed for the documentary include Jamal Lewis, Jonas Jennings, Takeo Spikes, Ryan Stewart, Wayne Gandy, Ronnie Brown, Jamie Winborn, Deon Grant, Richard Seymour, Ovie Mughelli and Mario Haggan.
Lewis detailed how he played nine games before being diagnosed with a career-ending concussion while with the Cleveland Browns in 2009. Over his career, in which he amassed 10,607 rushing yards, Lewis believes that he was diagnosed with eight to nine concussions.
Spikes, a hard-hitting linebacker who has played in the NFL since 1998, estimated that he has had 15 to 20 concussions.
Jennings, a former Georgia standout who played on the offensive line in the NFL from 2001-08, said that he had “20-plus” concussions.
Levens also interviewed Grant Aasen, a former Starr’s Mill player who collapsed in a junior varsity game at Northgate in Newnan on Oct. 14, 2010. He was airlifted to the Atlanta Medical Center where brain surgery likely saved his life.
“There are guys at the college level that are hurting,” Levens said. “There are guys in high school, who’ve already died. It’s not just pro guys. It’s guys at every level who are suffering.”
As of Thursday, 76 concussion lawsuits have been filed against the NFL across the nation, with more than 2,150 former players as plaintiffs, according to law student Paul D. Anderson’s website, nflconcussionlitigation.com. Former Georgia standout Robert Edwards filed in Fulton County on Wednesday.
Most of the suits alleged that the league did not do enough to inform players about the dangers of concussions in the past and that not enough is being done today. The league contends that the cases are without merit.
Levens is part of one of the groups that has filed suit.
“My goal is not to worry about the legalities of it,” Levens said. “My goal is to let people know what’s going on and to get guys help. I could care less about the case.”
Levens hopes to have the documentary completed by late June to early July in order to have a premier screening in conjunction with the Atlanta Film Festival with a roundtable discussion. He wants college players to see it before they return to their campuses and pros to see it before training camp opens.
“My goal, the whole time has been twofold,” Levens said. “One, is awareness and two, is to get these guys who need help, some help.”
