“Football doesn’t build character, it reveals it.”
That single quote by coach Bill Courtney in the opening scenes of Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin’s Academy-Award winning documentary Undefeated grabs the audience, and the movie never lets them go.
Courtney is the volunteer coach of the Manassas Tigers, a struggling high school football team in the heart of Memphis’ inner-city. After six years of coaching the skeletal program, Courtney and his team set their eyes on winning a single district championship game – something the school hadn’t done in its 100-year history.
But as Courtney and his team press forward, they quickly realize that the obstacles in their way reach beyond the football field.
The prep sports feel-good news feature “Raising O.C. – Three Families Have Arms Around This Top Prospect” by Jason Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal sparked the interest of filmmakers Lindsay and Martin. What started out as the story of one athlete’s uphill climb resulted in a powerful, touching and inclusive experience in Undefeated.
As the patriarch of the program, Courtney attempts to compensate for what most of the boys are missing at home – a positive male influence. Courtney is a wealthy white business owner, but this film is far from a “Great White Hope” saga. Courtney can relate to them in an intimate way because Courtney’s own father walked out of his life when he was four years old.
“I used to wonder what was wrong with me that made him leave, while other dads stuck around,” Courtney said.
He also relives the memory of walking off the football field alone after delivering the winning touchdown for his middle school team while his teammates’ fathers carried their gear and patted them on the heads. He knows the tarnish that can be forever imprinted on a child when their father checks out. His experience was the driving force behind his pouring his heart into the team, and he hopes doing so inspires them to value themselves, each other and the generation coming behind them.
Through working together towards the common goal of building a football team that Tennessee takes seriously, they manage to unite a school, families and a community.
In addition to O.C. Brown, Lindsay and Martin were offered compelling illustrations of triumph and growth through the hearts of the entire team.
They face personal struggles, speed bumps and land mines that could easily blindside a lesser group.
The same can be said for the film itself. Undefeated went from obscure film to Academy Award winner (Best Documentary, 2011) based on the resounding belief and subsequent support in what the film represents. When it is all said and done, the film’s title takes on an entirely different implication. The team’s statistics are an afterthought in the wake of developing the heart, actions and unbeatable spirit of a champion.
Undefeated opens in St. Louis on Friday, April 6. The film is rated PG-13 with a running time of 113 minutes.
