At least one commentator called a personal foul on Dr. Mehmet Oz after the ubiquitous TV personality (and cardiothoracic surgeon) pledged his love of football in an NFL spot.
Oz appeared as part of the league's “Together We Make Football” ad campaign. Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that it was a new low for Oz to endorse the NFL without adding a “cautionary disclaimer” on the risk of traumatic head injuries.
Oz called the blistering attack “unfair.” Speaking to Advertising Age after taking part in an NFL-sponsored safety clinic for the mothers of high school football players, he said: “All this pent-up rage about my need to put a disclaimer in. How do you put a disclaimer in a 22-second piece about something that you like doing?”
Days before the season started, the NFL reached a $765 million settlement over concussion-related brain injuries with 18,000 retired players. And in October, PBS aired “League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis.” Among other things, the film explored accusations that the NFL buried its own research and has hand-picked doctors and experts supportive of its side while blacklisting those critical of the league's practices.
The NFL compensated Oz and the other celebrities appearing in the campaign with a $20,000 donation to the charity of their choice and two Super Bowl tickets.
The NFL says it has not received any complaints about the spot. “The next one would be the first,” said spokesman Brian McCarthy.
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