“With his 28 Emmys and eight National Sportscaster of the Year awards, Costas had become the most-respected broadcaster of his generation — a kind of Walter Cronkite for sports.” So why was Bob Costas relieved of his duties covering the Super Bowl? And why did that controversy ultimately lead to his break-up with NBC? In short, because Bob Costas tells the truth about football’s concussion problem; and football is the biggest thing in sports, the biggest thing on TV, and maybe the biggest thing in entertainment. By being honest about the risks associated with CTE, Costas had “crossed a line.” And the only line the NFL likes crossed is the line of scrimmage and the only acceptable whistle-blowers are referees. From ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada: From NBC and broadcast icon to dropped from the Super Bowl. (It’s not just NFL players who are the victims of this whitewashing. It’s also kids in Pop Warner whose parents might have changed their minds about letting them play if they had all the facts. NBC demands the truth from politicians. But they punish it in their own organization.)