Gridiron Gang Page #9

L-right, 26 toss. On one. On one.

- Ready?

- Break!

Green 18!

Go! Go!

Not this time! I'm gonna kill ya, boy!

No, you ain't! No, you ain't!

No, you ain't!

Touchdown, number 13, Willie Weathers.

You're the best!

Hey. C'mere!

Mustangs, baby!

We played the championship game

the next week.

We lost 17-14.

But we played a helluva game.

And no one called us losers.

I told 'em, far as I was concerned,

they were champs.

Since then all the kids have been released.

24 are goin' to school.

Three are working full-time jobs.

And only five are back in jail.

That's a lot better than the average

failure rate of 75 percent.

After his release, Junior Palaita

got a job working for a furniture company

and lives with his family.

Kelvin Owens recovered

from his bullet wound.

He's gonna play

for Washington High next season.

Miguel Perez and Donald Madlock

went back to their old gangs

and are now in California

Youth Authority prisons.

Kenny Bates is goin' to school

in Redondo Beach and living with his mom.

Leon Hayes is trying to resist

the crack dealer's lifestyle.

He's gonna play football for Dorsey High

this year.

Bug Wendal was killed in a drive-by

shooting in Compton.

Willie Weathers got a full scholarship

to play football for a top boarding school.

A school that's a long way from 88th Street.

And how'd things change for me?

Not a whole lot.

On the gridiron we do it my way.

Not your way, my way.

Right now you're all losers.

That's why you're in here. 'Cause ya lost.

But if you accept this challenge,

if you accept the Mustang challenge,

then come this December,

when it's all over with,

I promise you

you'll be winners.

Ready?

M-U-S...

A!

A-N-G-S!

Mustangs!

You don't know how to spell "Mustangs"?

You have got to be shitting me!

All right.

Here we go again.

M-U-S-T-A-N-G.

Tell me to shoot somebody, I'll shoot 'em.

They would have killed me

if I wouldn't-a killed them first.

I played football in high school

and college and most of my life.

You know, I had people work with me as

a kid and they made a difference in my life,

and I was just hopin'

to pass that on to somebody else.

The Kilpatrick sports program

is three-pronged.

The dorm, where you're at now.

You've gotta learn to get along

with people from different neighborhoods,

different backgrounds. And school.

Apply yourself, learn,

become a better student.

On the field, you do it my way.

Not your way.

Your way got you here.

You played a game, sellin' drugs,

robbin' people, rippin' people off,

and you lost. Right now you're a loser.

Mustangs are winners.

Why'd you take 'em off?

Good job, man.

- Where you goin'?

- I'm goin' to put my shorts on.

Why'd you even come out with 'em off?

Why'd you even walk off the field?

You quitting again?

You know your program.

Your program is you run, you get in shape,

and you get a uniform.

You just keep walkin'. Football team's here.

You wanna be part of it, we're here.

But you bring a heart with you next time.

I'm tired of bein' a loser.

Out there on the field,

I can just show 'em that I'm somebody.

Show 'em that I can play.

This program has helped me get

a relationship back with my mom.

I want her to hold me

and tell me she loves me.

It's up to you to accept the challenge.

If anyone tells you it's gonna be easy,

they're lyin' to you.

I'm gonna push you.

I'm gonna challenge you.

Put your helmets on

and go shake their hands.

But I still don't believe

that they're 26 points better than you.

I still think you're the better team.

I still would not trade you for them.

These kids, the anxiety's

weighing them down, it's holdin' 'em back.

It's almost a fear of the unknown.

It's gonna be a whole new

experience for 'em.

We wanted to thank you

for not giving up on us,

even though we didn't want

to put out the effort at times.

Thank you for teaching us

more than football.

You taught us about the game of life.

This ball, I wanna give it to our head coach,

Sean Porter.

When they came in here

a lot of people thought of them

as criminals and delinquents.

No way.

You did a great job.

You're a helluva group of young men.

You guys are champs.

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