Algiers, America: The Relentless Pursuit (2023–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Long Live 5 - full transcript

[players chattering]

[chattering continues]

NORMAN RANDALL: Startin' in 15 seconds.

COUGARS PLAYER: Let's go!

[chattering continues]

You know most of the people's story
in this buildin' right now, right?

We have too much in this room

to be denied of our goal.

We got rings today, right?

But think about that.

Don't mean these people
not still goin' through this.



Don't mean Kenny not
still goin' home by his self.

It don't mean Jordan's
not goin' home all happy.

Brandon still got questions.

Aaron goin' home,
people gettin' killed two blocks away.

Fact, four blocks away.

Other night, people got killed right
outside Trey house across the street.

Huh, Trey?

Man, let's do somethin' so special
that nobody in America has ever done.

♪ dramatic music playing ♪

If we do something like that,

and we the first Black public school

to win five straight state championships
in a row in America,

you know how many people we playin'
for that's just not even in this room?

[crowd cheering]



ANNOUNCER 1:
When you talk about the Karr Cougars,

you're talking about
the most preeminent program

in the state of Louisiana.

When you look at what they've done
over the past decade,

it's been remarkable.

In the championship game

for the tenth time in 11 years.

Going for a fifth consecutive
state championship.

History could be made here tonight.

ANNOUNCER 2:
Brice Brown has done a great job

since taking over
the Karr Cougar program,

not only on the field but off the field

with these kids
in the community of Algiers,

and building these young players into men
and preparing them for life.

[crowd cheering]

BRICE BROWN: Our aspiration was
to build the best team in America.

And people kept saying that we couldn't.

We talkin' about a perennial
powerhouse football team,

a team that is nationally recognized

and nationally ranked.

But, man, it's hard to think about that

when you bury a 17-year-old.

♪

Do I love coachin' football? Yes.

But sometimes,
the circumstances are so dark

that it doesn't allow you
to fall in love with it.

[crowd cheering]

The relentless pursuit of saving a child.

Easy to say that.

Harder to do.

[yells]

ANNOUNCER 3:
And, hey, we're ready to kick off.

ANNOUNCER 2: We are.

We are underway.

♪ EOD by Kenneth Brother
ft. Nickky808 playing ♪

♪ They say that we never gon' make it ♪

♪ We ain't trippin', never was basic ♪

ANNOUNCER 1: Brice Brown's team
has won 26 consecutive games.

ANNOUNCER 2:
When you look at what they've done,

it's mind-boggling, isn't it?

ANNOUNCER 1:
No one had called them a dynasty yet.

Let us be the first.

Karr signed 12 seniors to college
football scholarships last spring.

How big is this for the West Bank
in New Orleans?

Man, this big
for the city of New Orleans.

♪ They say that we never gon' make it ♪

♪ We ain't trippin',
never was basic ♪

♪ Showed love,
shoulda never been gracious ♪

♪ Free my brothas on federal cases ♪

♪ Already won hope, my medal is waitin' ♪

♪ I done got back with Nick ♪

♪ I think they could tell by how
this b-- boom or somethin' ♪

♪ I'm the hardest
in the room or somethin' ♪

BRICE: We are the first predominantly
African-American school

to win four state championships in a row.

And we gon' be
the only school to win five straight.

♪ And then they say
that we never gon' make it ♪

♪ Human Race by Human Race playing ♪

♪

Algiers is on what
we call the West Bank.

So, there's the Mississippi River bridge,

and there's the East Bank
where the French Quarter is,

and there's the West Bank
where Algiers is.

If you grew up on the West Bank,

you always feel like you're other,

especially if you're in Algiers.

We're isolated.

Not that we separate,
but everybody separate us.

"Oh, if you from the West Bank,
you not a New Orleanian."

We love Algiers.
It's just a small community.

And it just so happened that
some of the best players in the city

have come from Algiers.

We are the grimy, gritty, tough,
physical, hungry, starving

muthafuckers you ever wanna meet.

[grunting]

♪

Algiers was the, the middle class.
Strongly, firmly middle class.

By the time I graduated high school,

things had started to change.

Some of that money had left the city.

The streets started to get worse.
The schools started to get worse.

There'd been a lot more
murders in Algiers,

a lot more break-ins in Algiers.

The violence started to go up.

Algiers, today, is heartbreaking.

It's in a crisis, really.

We have a murder rate
that is out of control.

♪ Underwaterfall by Bearcubs playing ♪

♪ My feet are falling from the ground ♪

Algiers is, basically, a war every day.

It's either you gon' choose
the right way or the wrong way.

One night, we just walkin', you know,

tryna have fun, do what we do.

I had wound up gettin' shot.

I ain't gonna lie,
I thought I was about to die.

BRICE:
You see a lotta stuff goin' on.

If it's drug abuse, drug distribution,
you know, people gettin' killed.

If somebody gets shot and killed
in New Orleans, it's not like,

"Oh, my God,
somebody got shot and killed!"

You know, it's not,
it's not that reaction.

We've been trained to be so numb to it.

Like, it's normal. It is not normal.

[wheels squeaking]

REPORTER 1:
Well, late last night, tragedy struck

in his hometown in New Orleans,

former wide receiver Tollette George

was shot to death
in the Algiers neighborhood of the city.

New Orleans police say they
are still investigating that incident,

which happened
shortly before 10 P.M. last night.

♪ somber music playing ♪

BRICE: You know,
what happened with Tonka was

he graduated
from Alcorn State University.

Two weeks later,
he got shot and killed

two blocks down
the street from his house.

♪

And two weeks later,
he was supposed to have a trial

with the New Orleans Saints.

That was the first time
a player's funeral was held

at Edna Karr High School.

That experience was very numbing.

You know, I was very close
to Tonka as a player.

He was a quarterback kid.

Tonka had been the best player

since he was five, six years old.

[crowd cheering]

Freakish athlete.

I'm talkin' 'bout, it was natural to him.

He did things
that you didn't have to teach.

[crowd cheers]

NORMAN: You know,
if he was around, he elevated everybody.

But without trying to do it.

He just had that, that "it" factor.

I don't care about the, uh,
other ride, but you can tell me.

BRICE: When we lost him,
it really hit us hard as a staff.

And it not only changed our outlook

on how we started to protect our players

and check up on them, uh, more often,

it, it changed our message of our program.

Hey, hey, hey!

About that,
it's not about wins and losses,

that it's about the safety,
and the security,

and the maturation process
of the kids that we have.

It reset us.

So, it changed
the whole outlook of college football.

And then, we won four straight.

[indistinct chatter]

Can't get frustrated with yourself.

You keep worrying about
what you doin' bad,

you gotta focus on the good stuff, too.

Losin' Tonka,
that just switched everybody.

You didn't have to talk about that

to understand, like,
we can't lose any more people.

Those four state championships
we just won in a row,

and goin' to five in a row,

don't mean shit
if anybody died from violence

any time we've been here.

That's been his sole mission,

and it's trickled down
to all the rest of us.

We got 12 minutes. Let's go.

And I just feel like our job
is we're catchin' them early.

We try to change their mind,
and how to fuckin' survive,

and deal with this shit.

Consistently, you have to continuously
work on yourself... every day.

If you know somethin' is pullin' you back,

how do you fight the thing
that's pullin' you back?

I think these kids,
that's all they see is people sayin'

that, "You can't do this,
you can't do that.

"Black people, this is what they good at.

Killin' each other."

[indistinct chatter]
[player laughs]

So, they start believin' this shit.

So, when you come
to Edna Karr High School,

we doin' the exact opposite
of what you see in Aurora.

We not tellin' our kids
they can't do somethin'.

We tellin' our kids that they gon' do it,

and they're gonna be
excellent at doin' it.

[birds chirping]

[scanner beeps]

Look at the ring.

That-- This is last year ring.

This is the 2018 ring. Look at this shit.

And you see, look,
on this one, "State Champs,"

"State Champions" is in diamond.

This one a special ring right here.

Yeah, that-- Look.
That's how they looked at first.

[laughter]

I just can't-- I can't, I can't deal
with it on my fingers. They're too big.

Now, one Sunday, I wore all of 'em
to church and I never did that again.

[laughter]
Fuckin' people, fuckin'--

They weren't even lookin' at the preacher.

Those rings,
they're so extravagant and so big

because--

I mean, that's their reward.

[machine creaking]

[motor starts]

I pray, O God, for Coach Brice Brown,
for every coach on the staff.

I pray for all these kids.
I pray for their parents.

I pray, O God, for the teachers,
the principals.

I pray, O God,
that we may stay humble

and not take not one team lightly.

For in Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.

[whistle blows]

♪ Moonlight by XXXTentacion playing ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪

♪ Spotlight, uh, moonlight, uh ♪

♪ Nigga, why you trippin',
get your mood right, uh ♪

♪ Shawty look good in the moonlight ♪

♪ All these so bad mind ♪

♪ Spotlight, moonlight ♪

Hoo!
PLAYERS: Hoo!

♪ All these pussy niggas so bad mind ♪

♪ Spotlight, uh, moonlight, uh ♪

♪ Nigga, why you trippin',
get your mood right, uh ♪

♪ Shawty look good in the moonlight ♪

- COACH: Let's go.
- Let's go, let's go.

♪ Spotlight, moonlight ♪

♪ Nigga, why you trippin',
get your mood right, uh ♪

♪ Shawty look good in the moonlight ♪

♪ All these pussy niggas so bad mind ♪

BRICE: I just wanna see
how it look in person.

Is this the ring?

We're gonna bring it to the field

'cause he gon'--
he want present it to the student.

COACH 1: Everybody up! Everybody up!

COACH 2: Take a knee. Take a knee.
Gather 'round. Take a knee.

All right. We got Mr. Mac
with a, with a special presentation.

We understand
that we've won four in a row.

And of course, we goin' to five in a row.

But I have to show you somethin'.

For those who were part
of the fourth championship

in a row last year,

we actually have
your championship ring.

They're now--
[players cheering]

We love you, Coach Brice Brown.

You can't take for granted a ring.

You can't take for granted a helmet.

You can't take
for granted even a football.

Don't take for granted what we are.

Don't take for granted what you do.

Not only were we the first public school

to win four straight
in the state of Louisiana,

we are the first predominantly
African-American school

in the United States of America

have a public school to win
four state championships in a row.

And we gon' be
the only school to win five straight.

[cheering]

This team here, in my eyes,

is one of the best teams
I ever coached.

Are we perfect by no means? No.

ALL: Our Father, Who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name;

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done
on Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those
who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Amen.
COACH: Get a break.

PLAYER: Yes, sir.

You know, we've been
blessed to win four straight,

but football is football.

You know, any team can win
any given Friday night.

PLAYERS:
"Family" on three. One, two, three.

Family.

BRICE: For the circumstances
that we are livin' in,

and the kids and the demographics
in which they come from,

and the situations that they
deal with every single day,

I would consider us, probably,
one of the best in the world.

[indistinct chatter]

NORMAN:
Act like you home. Play like you home.

Play like you in Algiers tonight.

The sun and the night,
it just hit a little different in Algiers.

You ain't the enemy. This is your home.

They gotta walk one way in that bitch,

and there's only one way out,
and it's through us.

We always believe
we the best team in the country.

We're a public school.

You know, when you look
at those top schools,

they're all private, they're all Catholic,
they're all privately funded.

And so, when we step out on the field,

we feel like we step out
for everybody that look like us,

that aspire to do great things,
that's not always football,

but we feel like we givin' them
that example of, "It can be done."

We can be disciplined.

PLAYER: Oh, oh!

Oh, oh, oh!

NORMAN:
And to be honest with y'all,

I think a lotta the schools
don't wanna play us

because we do things a certain way,
and they might not like that.

[all rapping]

♪ Let my dreads grow out,
my bitch got a blow out ♪

♪ Mi casa, su casa ♪

♪ My house is a ho house ♪

ANNOUNCER:
Brice Brown's Cougars start their run

for a fifth state championship
with a three-and-one record.

The Cougars are gearing up tonight
to play neighborhood rivals

the Landry Buccaneers
in the heart of Algiers.

♪ band playing
"The Star-Spangled Banner" ♪

♪ SPAZ by CityBoiGreg playing ♪

♪

[whistle blows]
[all shouting]

[whistle blows]

[shouting]

[indistinct chatter]

You need to set the tone
with physicality on expected things,

offense and defense.

Physical. "Physical" on three.
One, two, three!

PLAYERS: Physical!

♪

[screaming]

[crowd cheering]

[airhorn blaring]

[announcer talking indistinctly]

♪

ANNOUNCER [over speaker]:
Samuel inside. Aaron Anderson!

[whistle blows]

That's a dangerous, dangerous man.

You don't wanna see number four in state.

[indistinct chanting]

I'm so proud of you, all right?

- I got you.
- [laughs] I'm proud of you, boy.

My son and Aaron ran track together.

That's how I met him.

I'm from Algiers, he's from Algiers.

The best of everything comes
from Algiers, if you ask me.

[laughs]

And I think a lot
of the responsibility of Karr football

is to make the community
understand that it's bigger than a sport.

Like, this is literally
how our children thrive through sport.

This is how a lot of them
get out of their circumstances,

and so, that's the, the greatest gift

that I think is so special
about Coach Brice Brown.

Like, he's buildin' phenomenal people,

and they just happen
to be great athletes.

[dog barking in distance]

♪ light music playing ♪

♪ Gang Gang by BTY Young'n
ft. Jay Jones & Hollygrove Keem playing ♪

[over speakers]
♪ Ain't no in between, huh ♪

[Aaron singing along]
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Meet me at the finish line ♪

♪ I done hit your bitch too many times,
she tellin' plenty lies ♪

♪ Trillest out, go and ask around
who got the city locked ♪

♪ I don’t dance,
I get in the pussy and I diddy bop ♪

♪ It’s ridiculous how these
pussy niggas be hatin' us ♪

♪ Runnin' bands up,
countin’ money, gettin' paper cuts, yup ♪

♪ I’m chasin' that bag, that’s of course ♪

♪ I need somethin' foreign ho,
she got an ass like a horse ♪

♪

BRICE: Aaron Anderson.

He's probably considered one
of the best athletes in America.

PLAYERS: Hoo! Hoo!

"Together" on three. "Family" on six.

One, two, three.
ALL: Together.

Four, five, six.
ALL: Family.

Aaron Anderson is probably
the most gifted athlete

I've ever been around in my life.

[crowd cheering]

REV. SHERMAN HUGHES SR.:
Now, you talkin' 'bout goin' against

one of the best players in the country,

United States, and the world.

ANNOUNCER:
Samuel throws a route.

Middle of the field.

NORMAN:
Football is like God gave it to him.

It's effortless.

His quick-twitch is God-given.

His ability to catch
the football is God-given.

ANNOUNCER:
Did he catch it? He did!

He does it seamlessly.
It looks like a loaf of bread in his hand.

He can line up in a slot and kill you.

He can line up
at outside receiver and kill you.

We put him at runnin' back
and ran zone read with him.

He can do anything he want.

DENISE ELLIS: He's basically
New Orleans's next best thing.

Aaron has the potential to make it.

You know, he has the potential
to go the farthest.

BRICE: He's one of those kids,
he come from struggle.

His dad is in jail.

He have to keep his calm,
he have to keep his composure.

Because he's a-- He got a mark on him.

It only takes a, a spark.

It can be fatal.

Not only on the field,

off the field.

BRICE: Aaron Anderson's best friend

got killed a block away from his house?

Just knocked on his door and said,
"Man, come on, let's go here,"

blah blah, "Let's go,
let's go chill. Let's go."

"No, I'm, I'm good. I'm stayin' inside."

Closed the door.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Dead.

♪ hip-hop music playing on speakers ♪

One thing that did get to me is
when I saw my best friend die.

We went to pre-k together,
growin' up with each other.

You know, a lotta things
didn't go his way.

He got caught up in the streets.

You know, he was one feet in,
one foot out.

The moment I let him
go left was the moment that

I felt like I let him down.

♪

After seein' him die, you know,

I always looked at it
that one day that could be me.

I just couldn't get over it.

[indistinct chatter]

BRIDGETT ANDERSON:
Every day he walk out this door,

I be like, "Oh, Lord."

I don't, I don't sleep 'til he get inside.

Not only him, all of 'em.

Mm, say about five, six, seven, eight
of his friends or people we know

that, that been at my house and slept
at my house are dead right now.

ANNOUNCER [on TV]:
So, here's the kicker Harrison Butker.

AARON ANDERSON: There we go.
[man groans]

ANNOUNCER:
Another try after the first down.
MAN: Oh!

[indistinct chatter]

Ya gotta be smart
about who you hang with.

If you know what they in.

That's what you call goin' left.

They start out,
and then, somethin' happen

to a parent,
or it could be any little situation

that'll make 'em wanna go left quick.

Like, drop outta high school today,

walk around with guns on,
and sell drugs,

and prove points to people.

That's goin' left.

And that's why I don't
think about the future.

I want nothin' bad to happen,
so I ain't even want think 'bout it.

When you start thinkin' 'bout it
and speakin' it to an existence,

all kind of stuff start happenin'.

And my heart ain't that strong.

Yep, and I'm gon' make sure.
They won't go left on my watch.

If anybody gon' kill him, it's gon' be me.
[customer chuckles]

AARON: Goin' right is the path that is
gonna make you successful in life.

You know, goin' left is the opposite
of bein' successful, which is failure.

My mindset always was
to, you know, trust the process.

You know,
I always listened to Coach Brice.

Like, I always trusted him.

♪ light music playing ♪

[grunting]

♪ hip-hop music playing ♪

[wind blowing]

[whistle blows]

[indistinct chatter]

PLAYER 1: Ooh, shit!
BRICE: That's the way you finish, J.

PLAYER 2: Bust his ass, J!

So, black boo. Walk it. Regular halt.
Regular walk, regular halt.

Come cross face. Who got the waggle?

- PLAYER: He got the waggle.
- He got the waggle.

Our reality when we
were buildin' this thing up,

people perception of a all-Black school,

a all-Black staff is what?

They gon' find a way to fuck it up.

It wasn't because the teams
we were playin' were better than us.

It because we lacked discipline,
it's because we lacked character.

Oh, Lord!

[indistinct chatter]

It's because we lacked resiliency.

We changed all that.

[grunting]

But, you know, we weren't always here.

♪ funky jazz music playing ♪

So, this was the, uh, actual
locker room that was along the wall.

We had no space.

You come over here,

uh, we had weights in the shower

to try to maximize the spaces that we had.

Right, this, this is the library.
This is where we had our first meetin'.

All right? This where we--
where I met Brice at.

♪

We were practicin', my man said,

"Coach, who, who-who's the right guard?"

I said, "That's Brice Brown."
I said, "Coach, I think

"he could play for you.

Well, he's about 6'1", you know."

He said, "What? 6'1"?"
He said, "Man, that boy good."

I said, "I'mma tell you this.
Look at his shoes."

[laughter]

G-Nikes on, and out there
movin' like he had on football cleats.

Non-stop.

For a, a student in high school,
Brice was very, very, very, very mature.

You know, he knew what he wanted to do.
He knew he wanted to play football.

BRICE:
Coach Jaluke asked me to come back.

He was like, "Man, you may as well coach."

So, I was like, "Ah, I ain't
never thought about coachin'."

He was like, "Man, I'm tellin' you,
you'll be good at it."

Left, middle. Left, middle.
Left, middle. Left, middle.

Let them know what
they fuckin' responsibility is.

You on the field,
you out there on your own.

You gotta be able to self-correct.

"Hey, listen, man,
this is what I'm envisioning,

"and everybody gon' think I'm crazy.

We wanna be...
one of the best programs in America."

He said, "You know what, Coach?

I'm gonna be a part
of this crazy-ass dream."

Boom, did it.

Two weeks later, he was, like,
you know, offensive coordinator.

That was in 2006.

JABBAR JALUKE: And he believed in it.
And so, he was my right-hand guy.

I gave him a lotta responsibility.

BRICE: You asked how we've
gotten to where we are now.

By a lot of hard work.

I can't even remember my 20s.

You know, I just know
that we were grinding,

and whatever we
was doin', it was hard.

PLAYER: "Family" on three!

One, two, three!
ALL: Family!

JABBAR: I will put it on us.

It is our job to make sure
they are fundamentally sound,

and let's break the stereotype
that most Black schools

will be undisciplined,
that we unravel

when the, when the chips are on the line.

We had the pen.
We wanted to change that narrative.

Kids need to be appreciated.

So, I will tell 'em I appreciate 'em

for puttin' up with the shit
we put 'em through,

and congratulations

because we gon' win
the state championship this year.

JABBAR: There was a core group
of guys who knew to start evolving,

and now, you can see the birth
of the seed that we were getting done.

It's growin', and growin', and growin'.

[crowd cheering]

Show me why y'all
the best in the state! Show me!

Don't talk about it! Show me right now!

[crowd cheering]

[yells]

REPORTER:
2015 Coach of the Year Brice Brown

was promoted
to head coach before the season.

He follows Jabbar Jaluke.

One of the main things
I learned from Coach Jaluke was

they always lookin' at the head,

and, uh, a-and a cool head's
gonna win a hot game.

[crowd cheering]

JABBAR:
He understands the assignment.

Brice knows that it's about the kids,

and givin' them a chance

when no one give you, gives you
a chance livin' in New Orleans.

And I just wanna tell y'all,
from the bottom of my heart,

I love each and every
one of y'all to death.

PLAYER: I love you too, Coach.

[all cheering]

JABBAR:
We've put-- Help me out, Brice,

over 150 guys since 2003?

BRICE: What you talkin' 'bout?
How many guys we signed since then?

- Yeah.
- College?

- Yes.
- Oh, oh yeah. Over 180.

Yeah. That's pretty impressive.

♪ Change Is Gonna Come by YesYou
ft. Damon Trueitt playing ♪

NORMAN: That's what it's all about.

All the guys come back,
and they come to our games,

they come work out if they playin' ball.

- 'Bouta get it in.
- 'Bouta go in. Facts.

And then it shows our kids,
like, "Damn, look at Quindell,

he just got conference
player of the year,"

or, "Bro, look at Detrell
being an entrepreneur,"

or, "Look at this one graduatin',
he's 'bout to go to law school."

I think it just gives 'em hope.

♪

DAVID GRUBB:
What he's doing is unprecedented.

There's no data that would
even match up with his.

There is no other public school

and no other African-American coach...

Thank you. Thank you so much.

DAVID: ...having the level of success
that Brice Brown is having.

People should be coming to find out
what it is that he's doing.

You should be trying to replicate this.

BRICE:
This one of the better parents here.

This meeting should be refreshing.

We can talk about so much bullshit.

And now we can have
a little comedy and a little laugh,

and, you know, fuck, goddamn,

we ain't 'bout to talk
about no fucked-up shit.

[car doors closing]

TYSHA HILL: Hey, my little baby!

BRICE: It feel good in here. Shit.

Yep.

I got you some pop.
Some Cokes in the freezer for ya.

[laughter]

BRICE: What's your side?
What you making? What's your--

TYSHA:
I'm tryin' roasted potatoes.

BRICE: With garlic and parsley?
TYSHA: Yeah.

BRICE: Oh, that's gon' be good.

Well, we call this smothered potatoes.

Yeah. These your flowers from yesterday?
TYSHA: Yeah.

You know, you know what
the color white symbolize?

Purity... Purity.

[laughter]

I think yellow mean--

I think yellow mean passion.
Let me, let me make sure.

I got water and lemonade.

[crosstalk]

- Lemonade. Lemonade.
- All right.

And now with the plates. Get your food.

BRICE: Oh, we gon' eat this food fine.

Who textin' you
on a daily basis right now?

LSU.

TYSHA: Yeah.

BRICE: Damn, that's not good enough?

[laughter]

Tygee Hill, he's very recognizable.

He's very popular in the whole city.

He has great parents

who have lived that life of struggle.

Right? Who, who didn't have anything.

Tygee, he's a great athlete.

[grunting]

TYGEE HILL:
Somethin' wrong with you.

BRICE: He's a great leader.
He's a great captain.

Go! Go! Go!
PLAYERS: Go!

Go! Go!
PLAYERS: Go! Go!

BRICE: He's a great young man.
He's a great student.

All-American as a junior.

He has every potential
FBS offer in the country.

What can stop him
from doin' that, being that great?

TYSHA: [grunts] So... this is
everything he's been receivin'.

TYGEE: Mississippi State.
Colorado. Alabama. LSU.

TYGEE/TYSHA: Stanford.
[Tysha laughs]

TYSHA: Yeah. This is strictly from--

TYGEE: This year.
TYSHA: Th-This year.

TYGEE: Me puttin' on
this helmet just paid for college.

Just by strappin' on this chin strap,
just goin' out to practice

could just change your life forever.

"Tygee, we have three choices in life.

"One, give up. Two, give in.

Three, give it all you got.
Come join us. Hook 'em."

This, this is all the time.

"We are going to leave you--"

- Mm, mm. I don't know.
- Yeah, they wrote that bad.

Yeah, that's a bad one.
Let me, let me find another one.

[laughing] Let me find another one.

Every now and then,
they'll do a little somethin' like this.

- TYGEE: Yeah.
- I like this one, what Alabama did.

They kinda did a little tag
with his face and stuff on it.

They're very creative with it.
[Tygee laughs]

Some sayin' Happy Halloween.
This--

[laughter]

At first, it was, like, unreal.

You only see this type
of stuff on movies and all that.
TYSHA: Yeah.

TYGEE: Through all them long nights,

all them hot days,

it's just, like, what you get
is this-- the reward.

You know what I'm sayin'?
Just to see it, feel it, touch it.

♪ Timeless by Kenneth Brother
playing on car stereo ♪

It's kinda tough for us to be regular kids
when we got so much at stake.

I gotta be more cautious of what I do.

It's kinda hard for us
to even have friends.

Like, if I'm with you,
"Who don't like you?

Who tryna get you?"

You gotta be mindful.
It's like, "Where you from?

Who you hangin' 'round?
Is you 'bout to get us in any trouble?"

The beef down here is reckless.

274.

I had Subway earlier...
I did have a cookie, too, with it, though.

[laughter]

My older brother in jail right now.

You know what I'm sayin'?
Older brother in jail.

Uh, 15 years.
He been in sin-since I was six.

Seeing that at, like, a young age,
goin' to see him through a glass.

I can't even touch my brother.

Like, I got... uh,
a glass high-five, just stuff like that.

While he in there doing that bid,
a part of us in there.

This the bad side to all that thuggin',

all that cuttin' up flash and all,
that's the bad side.

When that moment come, it just,

"A'ight, I'm 'bouta crash out.
I ain't trippin'." Boom.

And you get hit with that 30 years.

And now you like,
"Ohh, I shouldn't have did that.

"Oh, my gosh.

I shouldn't have been
hangin' with them dudes,"

but it's too late by then.

Well, Tygee, let's ha--
let's see what we got.

Go!

Y'all flip. Watch out!

[applause]

[grunting]

♪ light music playing ♪

COACH: Fast, fast.
Fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast.

That really showed me, like,
maybe this God way of tellin' me, like,

"Hey... I just gave you example
of, like, what not to do. Be better."

♪

Ooh.

[heavy breathing]

[distant chatter]

COACH: Go! Wide base. Wide base.

[player grunts]
Wide base.

[whistle blows]

Ain't nobody in the state of Louisiana
put in the work that we put in,

and ain't nobody in the state of Louisiana

want this shit more
than we want this shit.

One, two, three.
ALL: Hoo!

[crowd cheers]

[announcer speaking]

Move on to the next game, that's it.

Our motto been this year
is "Drive for five."

So, you know,
that's what we really focus on.

Goin' for the five.

COACH: Get that! Get that! Get that!

BRICE: The quarterback should be, what,

going inside the hash line mark.

If you want, he should
be throwin' to the hash line mark.

It's all about yardage and space.

Hear that?

Sound of some champs.

[crowd cheering]

Move in on his legs. Take his legs out!

[horn blows]

ANNOUNCER [over speaker]:
Over the middle! Touchdown!

BRICE:
No, you gave up 19 points to the people.

That's not called football.
That shit is soft.

[grunting]

Come down here.

You shyin' away
from fuckin' contact. Come on.

[players chanting]

You don't fuckin' play better next week,

I'mma take you out then.

PLAYERS: Hoo!
PLAYER: Like a dog!

PLAYERS: Hoo!
PLAYER: Hunt like a dog!

PLAYERS: Hoo!
PLAYER: Hunt like a animal!

DESTYN HILL: We don't
wanna be the ones to stop history.

We don't wanna be the ones
to not win a championship,

so the other classes after us
not win championships.

Hey, Three, I see right through you.

Thirteen, you too.

I see right through both of y'all.

[crowd cheering]

[whistle blows]

BRICE:
It's a, a good thing to have

two of the best wide receivers
in the nation on your team.

[all rapping]

You win a game like this,
you gon' leave your mark

after the other mark we left last year,
and the mark before that,

and the mark before that,
and the mark before that.

So, the expectation? Leave another.

ANNOUNCER:
Tonight, it's a Class 4A semifinal,

and it's as good as it gets

as the number six seed,
Warren Easton Fighting Eagles,

renew their rivalry
with the number two seed

and four-time
defending state champions,

the Edna Karr Cougars.

Not tonight!

ANNOUNCER: There may not be a better
rivalry in the state of Louisiana,

certainly not the city of New Orleans,
than Karr and Easton.

♪ Really Really by Kevin Gates playing ♪

♪ Bad bitches in line,
they be really trying ♪

♪ They ask me if I'm high,
I say, "Really really" ♪

♪ Got money on my mind,
I say, "Really really" ♪

REPORTER:
For the fourth season in a row,

Easton and Karr
are meeting in the postseason.

This time around,

a berth in the Class 4A
state title game is on the line.

♪ I say, "Really really" ♪

♪ I'm really out my mind,
I say, "Really really" ♪

ANNOUNCER 1 [over speaker]:
Samuel goes over the top.

♪ I been ballin'
'cause I'm really ballin' ♪

♪ I won't apologize,
I'm not really sorry ♪

ANNOUNCER 2: Don't go get anything to eat,
anybody at home, because I'm tellin' you,

you're gonna miss some
great offensive football here

and some good defensive football.

[laughs] So, hold on.

They'll go play action, run the slant,

and flags come in
from everywhere at the one-yard line.

And ya hope the receiver is okay

'cause that looked like,
kind of, a high hit there.

ANNOUNCER 2: And we've got another flag

that came out on the Eastern sideline.

ANNOUNCER 3:
Well, they're gonna make sure

that they keep this thing under control.

ANNOUNCER 2: Quick pass to the perimeter.

And run the run,
and down the sideline!

He may be gone!

Touchdown, Easton.

We not losin' this fuckin' game!

ANNOUNCER 2:
Going quickly again. Samuel... caught.

[grunts]

And he is brought down
at about the 28-yard line.

But that was a hit delivered
at the end of that play.

Oh, we got a ejection.

ANNOUNCER 3: Oh, my goodness.
We got ejection against Karr.

Looks like it was number four.
Aaron Anderson.

ANNOUNCER 1 [over speaker]:
And Aaron Anderson, number four,

he's just been ejected from the game.

ANNOUNCER 2:
Oh, Aaron Anderson ejected from the game.

ANNOUNCER 3:
Preliminary, uh, uh, indication is that

he might've thrown a punch
when he was down in that pile

after that huge hit.

I told you things could get chippy
between these two schools.

You just don't wanna see that happen.

ANNOUNCER 2:
And with Anderson, you lose a guy

who is-- got 27 catches
on the year, six touchdowns.

A highly touted recruit
coming up in the 2022 class.

BRICE: You know, they spit on 'em.

He reacted, punched a kid,
he got threw out.

Listen, listen. Listen to me.

NORMAN:
Football is an emotional game.

Aaron's natural reaction
was you overstepped the line,

and as soon as he overstepped,
he went black.

That's scary because if you
black out like that in the street,

and you do that to the wrong person,
you not makin' it back home.

And now we got Tonka all over again.

We are preventing
his story from goin' left.

Tryin' to prevent it.

I had a conversation
with him in the summer.

I said, "Listen, two of your best friends

"have gotten killed
in a matter of a month.

"It's literally at your front door.

"Death is knockin' at your front door.

[knocking on table]

Now, it is up to you
if you gon' answer it or not."

PLAYER: We gotta hold it down.
We gotta hold it down.

Keep it up, boys.
Let's hold this shit down, man. Come on.

It's on us. It's on us, man.

ANNOUNCER 3: Samuel... Got a man.

Hill at the 20.

Falls forward to about the 16-yard line.

Gain of 27 on the play.

Connelly, down the seam
and it's intercepted!

Up the near sideline.

Karr with their first
takeaway of the evening.

Samuel... on the end around

tryin' to get to the corner,

and he is in for the touchdown.

[crowd cheering]

And once again,

it is a trip
to the state championship for Karr.

[distant chatter]

BRICE: You know, I always
appreciated all the things

that we tryin' to accomplish,
and all the things that you tryin'

to accomplish individually in your life.

A lot of you have families,
and children, and wives, and stuff,

and you, and you are,
actually, sacrificing time with them

to pour yourself into someone else

that's not blood-related.

You know, so let's really appreciate
that we're a all-Black staff.

What people say,
"You gon' do it this way.

"You not gon' do it right.
You gon' take shortcuts.

"You gon' think about the result
before you go through the process.

"It's gon' be fourth down and 10,
and you gon' just throw a nine.

It's gon' be four and short,
and you not gon' to run fit right."

We have show the world
that it's vice versa,

that Black coaches can
not only impact other Black people,

but impact an entire group of people,

white or Black.

Because the last time
that I checked, we are the standard.

♪ light music playing ♪

NORMAN:
Light work, nothin' hard, [indistinct].

[indistinct chatter]

Hey, I guarantee you,
they done watched all the film,

and watched everything
that you're weak at.

COACH: Good! That's the job.

Because long as you got him like this,

he can run his feet as much as he want,

he's never gonna cut you off.

You see what I'm sayin'?

Like, you have a center
in the middle of you.

I need you to spread out.

He'll go down.

Come on, let it go.

DAVID: Brice and his coaches,

the men who are standing
in front of those kids,

the men who have to be
held accountable for them.

Come on, man. He's--

DAVID: To know that up
and down that field every day,

there are men who have been through
what you've been through,

who have seen what you're seeing,

who can communicate to you in that way,

and they're not going to tell you

that things are gonna be okay
when sometimes they're not.

BRICE: This kind of stuff
can't happen when you go to college.

What you need to do is accept
who your dad is right now.

That's hard... right?

Mm-hm. Yes, Coach.

Parents ain't perfect.
They all fuck up sometimes.

We fuck up as coaches.

But don't go backwards

tryna fix somethin'
that you can't control.

Like I told your mom,
I want you to keep traveling,

and keep competing, and all that.

I want you to be able
to show that you're listening,

and you could correct the stuff
that you did wrong this past weekend.

That you could fix your body language,
that you could fix your attitude,

that you can go out there and compete,

and be the player
that we expect you to be,

that we know you are.

It just hard to see, like--

[exhales] Like, it been
on my mind every day, so--

[sniffles] And then--

BRICE: It's hard to say,
"Look, my daddy fucked up.

I want him, I need him,
and he's not here."

♪ solemn music playing ♪

That shit hard to say.

They can't know if you don't tell 'em.

They can't help you
if you don't express yourself.

Only real men
know how to express theirself.

Use the people that's
in this program, man.

All of these coaches care about you.

Everybody want you
to see you come out that hole.

Everybody wanna see you become
the man that we expect you to be.

And you expect that of yourself.

But you can't do that, Mike,
if you keep all of that stuff internal

and you don't talk about it.

That's fair?
MICHAEL RICHARD: It's good.

All right.

You'll get there.

Aaron, we are in the mode
of prevention with him right now,

and it's very aggressive.

"Why are you here this time of night?

"Why you snuck out the house?

"Why your mom sayin'
you, you were here, you were there

"when you supposed to be here?

"Why you lyin' to your mom
sayin' that you got practice

and you was out
runnin' around in the street?"

It's been a process for him
to learn how to separate.

MAN: You give it your all.

All right. I gotta take this sofa.
Know what I'm sayin'?

We gotta keep him around, boys.

BRICE: So, what we talkin'
about here is... knowin' your kids.

MAN: Let me see what you got here.

BRICE: You gotta pull kids in.

But I know a lotta coaches
who turn their cheek to that.

I won't be involved in that.
You know, once you here, you here.

Once you go home,
I can't control that. Shit.

We gon' try to control it
to the best as we can.

This just a appreciation
for Coach Brice, you know,

sayin' how much he love me,
and all the things I do, and he do.

He say, uh,
"The father-son bond we have is special.

"And I want you to know
that I love you with everything in me.

"More importantly,
I want you to know that I respect you

"just as much watching
you grow since second grade.

"Makes me proud of you
[clears throat]

"every day and to the man you have become.

"You are my real son,
and I will never leave you.

"I will always be
at your side no matter what.

Love you always, Pops."

Uh, it made me feel like...
I'm tooken in, in a f-- in-in a family.

So, that make me feel
like I got-- I'm in a--

I am in a double family now,
so feel well-protected.

We care more about the kid
than the player.

We care more about
the young man than the athlete.

We care more about the pillow at home

than the football on the field.

We don't want another
Tonka George situation.

Can we prevent it 100%?
No, we can't prevent it.

But we can tell his story.

[crowd cheering]

TOLLETTE "TONKA" GEORGE: At first,
I didn't know I was gon' play quarterback.

I thought I was gon'
stay playin' receiver.

Then my coach talked me
into playing quarterback

and he told me I could do it.

NORMAN: As we went
to the first state championship,

I think Tonka showed
the program it could be done.

ANNOUNCER: He will snap it
with about one second to go, he does.

George looking
for somebody to throw it to.

Now he's running.
He's trying. He's gonna do it!

He's in! We are tied at 28! Oh my!

NORMAN: And then, we lose.

ANNOUNCER:
Franklinton! State Champions of Louisiana!

NORMAN:
But Tonka had put us on the map,

and we forever grateful to him
because he's the reason

that kids wanted to start coming to Karr

because our success as a program.

And he looks over us every day.

But, you know, he's one of the greats
to ever come walk this building.

The drive for five

is close as it's ever been.

You can feel it.

Man, let's do somethin' so special

that nobody in America has ever done it.

Think about that.

You know how many people we playin'
for that's just not even in this room.

You understand that?

I think you do understand it
'cause you workin' like that.

You got a week left
of grind-it-out Karr football.

Play hard, play smart, play together.

Discipline, determination, dedication,

all the pillars that we live on,

we gotta stand on it right now.

You stand on what you believe in.

You stand on the pillars of the program.

And you just respond, and respond,
and respond, and respond, and respond.

And they gon' choke the fuck out.

[players panting]

[cheering and applause]

WOMAN:
Have fun, guys! We're proud of you.

[indistinct chatter]

Have fun!

[cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

I asked 'em if they still
gon' be clappin' if we lose.

[people talking indistinctly]
[Brice chuckles]

♪ tense, anticipatory music playing ♪

The five-peat, it's like,

all right, so what we did last year,
nobody in the state ever done that, right?

But when we do this,
this, like, United States.

- Like, nobody--
- No public-- No Black public school.

And it symbolize five from sayin'--

uh, rest in peace, Tonka,
from sayin' he passed.

And the five, that's why
number five a big thing at Karr.

TORY MORGAN:
Like, five describe, like, sacrifice.

Like, he was a person who was unselfish.

You know, he was all about the team.

He willin' to sacrifice anything
he had to do for the team.

Sacrificed his body.

He would play defense if he had to.

So, he was just a, a, a real,
true kind of man, you know?

The epitome of it. So, that why
he's so special to the program.

The way Coach Brice describe him, like,

his energy, like,
all the stories he'd tell,

he just sounded like somebody
just great to be around.

Just bring light to the room.

[phone line ringing]

You know I'm ready.

Me and, uh, me and Tygee gettin' ready,
you know, to go downstairs.

We 'bout to leave out.

Yeah.
TYGEE: Y'all comin' out, though?

TYGEE/TORY: Oh, no.

[laughter]

TYGEE: Love you, too.

Love you too, Ma.

Bye.

[indistinct chatter]

[laughter]

REV. SHERMAN HUGHES SR.:
Let's go, man! Open the door.

Let's get outta here.

[indistinct chatter]

Comin' into this week, we just see
from the waterboy to Coach Brice,

see just everybody locked in.

We still loose, but we still, like,
focused on what we gotta do.

Don't even, like, play with 'em.

Don't even had a chance to even think

they in a same realm with us.

All our past players, the people
that laid down the foundation for us,

and a good feelin' just to bring
the community back at Algiers,

just to show 'em, like,
"Hey, we did it for everybody.

Did it for us."

This ain't no regular Karr team.
We different this year.

We comin' for everything.

♪

[crowd cheering]

All we got is just to finish strong,

just to do somethin' that
no other team has ever done.

[crowd cheering]

♪

♪ All In the Wrist by Derek Minor,
Foggieraw, and Parris Chariz playing ♪

♪ They want me to miss
but that's a wish, wish ♪

♪ If I don't take the shot
it's an assist, 'sist ♪

♪ But either way it go, boy,
that's a swish, swish ♪

♪ Before I rep' my brothers,
plead the fifth ♪

♪ Please, your honor, but I seen snakes
in the grass like in Genesis ♪

♪ Been a young stunner
since six, I really it ♪

♪ Rockstar, baby,
all the ladies wanna give me ♪

♪ Kickin' it, Lewandowski, shh-shh ♪

♪ Someone to link up, down,
there's the doubtin', for rеal ♪

♪ Balenciaga mask, Dr. Fauci ♪

♪ I get shorty cleaned out,
еveryone arousy, 'rousy ♪

♪ Clean as hell it's like Bounty, pssh ♪

♪ She was the prettiest girl
in the county, county ♪

♪ My finger blues clues dog,
I don't even count it, count it ♪

♪ They goin' oo-mm dog,
they be bouncing, bouncing ♪

♪ I told 'em it's all
in the wrist, wrist, wrist, wrist ♪

♪ They want me to miss
but that's a wish, wish ♪

♪ When I don't take the shot
it's an assist, it's an assist ♪

♪ But either way it go,
it's a swish, swish ♪