247Sports recruiting expert Bobby Burton covered high school football in the state during Carters run nearly three decades ago. You dont even get a chance to think about the past, trying to think about the present, he said. Among those sentenced by state District Judge Joe Kendall were Parade magazine All-American defensive back Derric Evans, who was sentenced to 20 years on each of four armed robbery counts, and running back-defensive back Gary Edwards, who received three 16-year terms. I did my own thing and now thats what I gotta do, Wright said. Police connected 21 local armed robberies to 10 Carter neighborhood teenagers, six of whom were a part of the football team. Instead, the message is that both the movie and the real Ken Carter taught their students is that sports aren't all that matters. The 1988 Carter team is one of the most memorable tales of Texas football. Anyone can read what you share. His decision to lock the gym and forfeit games until the players raised their GPAs was unpopular with the community, but when it made national news, then California Governor Gray Davis called him a hero and came to the Oilers first game after improving their grades. The inspirational story inspired the movie Coach Carter six years later. Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared winner of Nigeria's presidential election. He didn't, however, leave the gym locked the entire time, as other sports and classes needed to use the gym. Carter prevailed in court and beat Converse Judson 31-14 for the Class 5A state title. ', Noting that six of the defendants were members of a Carter football team that experts rank as one of the best in Texas of the 1980s, Kendall said, 'The typical American male lives vicariously through the lives of football heroes. Coach Carter ends after the team comes back to Richmond High after their loss in the state tournament, showing what became of each student following the movie. According to Hootnick, it was "mostly two-parent families, mostly professionals. The book "Friday Night Lights" is about a group of high school football players in Odessa, Texas, a town where football is king and Friday evenings are gospel. Coach Freddie James retired from the Dallas school district two decades ago, off to travel and finally work on his wifes honey-do list. Carter did have some pushback from the parents, his players, and the community for his actions, but his focus on academics proved successful in real life, as well. The film featured Dallas' 1988 Carter High School football season. That highlight went viral and even made SportsCenter, with Stephens pointing out Wright at a practice and stating, Hes the one that I think is special.. More recently its taken him as a high school football coach from Grand Prairie to Frisco to Mesquite. I think at some level they were chasing a rush.". Permian is one of two large 5A high schools, the other being Odessa High School. Clifton Abraham was good. Brief moderate exercise could reduce risk of early death. After nearly 55 years of marriage, the two still love to tease each other. New on 77WABC. However, there is a happier ending unfolding away from the screen, where former Carter standout Derric Evans continues to craft a productive life free of the spotlight that made him a teenage celebrity, in ways both good and bad, two decades ago. When discussing playing Ken Carter (via MovieWeb), Jackson spoke about the similarities he saw between himself the real-life basketball coach, saying, "He believes in education and he believes people should be accountable for things they say they are going to do.". As the combine starts, the Texans are on the clock and the pressure mounts to solve their quarterback problem, writes Brian T. Smith. And that's what he wanted, too. So though hes 78 and often uses a cane to walk, James has spent the last three years working as a school crossing guard in South Dallas, a few miles east of his beloved Carter High. Derric Evans, right, at a recent movie premiere. Coach Carter turns 20 in a few years, so what is the real Ken Carter up to after being played by Samuel L. Jackson? One player famously signed his letter of intent to play college ball while lounging in a hot tub, adorned in gold jewelry. It started as a nonfiction book, then it became a movie (with Billy Bob Thornton as the coach) and finally a TV series. But if you look at the real team's journey to the 1988 state title,. Carter High in Dallas took the statechampionship in 1988, but thisnew film about the team is not all about victory. Over the course of one month in the spring of 1989, six Dallas Carter players, including Edwards and defensive back Derric Evans, were charged with committing a series of seven armed robberies. Former Dallas Cowboy Greg Ellis worked as executive producer, and former Carter High football player Arthur Muhammad wrote the script. As an author he's released two books, 2005's Coach Carter: My Life and 2012's Yes Ma'am, No Sir: The 12 Essential Steps for Success in Life. As the legal wrangling continued through the playoffs, the Carter Cowboys stayed focused and pushed forward to win the state championship. "The number of scholarships they got, the number of guys who went on to play some form of professional football by every measure this was one of the greats," Hootnick says of the school's reputation. Carter High School is really an afterthought in Friday Night Lights -- the evil, thug-like team that stole a championship. Lets be real, if that cat wasnt a really good football player we wouldnt be talking to him, Stephens said. Talented and bold, the Oak Cliff team ruled high school football in Texas. He believed the judge would have alerted the attorneys if he planned to give prison time so that they could consider a jury trial. (Ben Torres/Special Contributor). MaxPreps |What's the best high school team in modern history? 'Most of you have had religious and moral training, the opportunity for a decent education, and some of you have even been given by God athletic talent that would enable you to receive a free college education. You stay pretty busy. That title, until it was forfeited, belonged to Dallas Carter High School. Three Carter players from that team - Le'Shai Maston, Jessie Armstead and Clifton Abraham - played in the NFL 247Sports recruiting expert Bobby Burton covered high school football in the. But in April 2016, Carter was kicked off the team for a violation of team rules. And so to fall from grace like that, that's a long way down.". 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Starring movie icon Samuel L. Jackson as real-life high school basketball coach Ken Carter, and tells the story of how he changed the lives of the student-athletes on the basketball team at an inner-city high school in Northern California. Related: Hustle: Every NBA Player In Adam Sandler's Netflix Movie. But its really the kind of movie that lets people know that you can make it if you try. Eva-Marie Ayala/Staff Writer, Dallas-set football drama 'Carter High' hits Netflix Novemeber, 2016, Former Carter High star football player Jessie Armstead reflects on the past, Carter High tackles Dallas teams woes head-on, Over two decades later, a chance for public redemption, Scandal taints memories of 'best ever,' the 1988 Carter football team, Robbery spree was 'just for kicks' for 1988 Carter football team, Former players on 1988 Carter football team tried to move on, but shaking past wasn't easy. Football is about making good decisions and gambling dont build character. The debate between Yates and Carter in Texas is a popular one. So at the end of the day I have something to prove to the world just to get back on top.. Carter High is now playing in Texas theaters and will expand to screens in other cities over the next two weekends. Teens are shown engaged in the act of armed robbery, pointing guns at the employees of various . Six players from that team, a few of them stars, were sent to jail following a series of arrests for armed robbery. Carter High is a football movie. But. Carter won the state title but the story doesn't end there. He scored six points on 3-for . "It's a story that needs to be retold," he said. In the film, Thornton tells his team that to win state, they'll have to beat "a team of monsters" from Carter High School in Dallas (which they fail to do). Though West said he and Kendall are friends today, he said he did not speak to Kendall for two years after that. After serving 12 years in federal prison on fraud and insider trading charges . Cornerback Travion Williams, the No. Additionally, keep an eye on quarterback Vijay Miller, who started the first game of the season and had a few positive moments in Last Chance Us second season. And at a time when it seems the game is always in the cross-hairs, director Arthur Muhammad says Carter High isnt trying to show football in a bad light. Stephens returns after seeing himself in the first season and vowing to curse less and empathize more see how long that lasts while Wagner begins to worry about whether shell reach her potential in Scooba. Here's the list: 2010- Harrison Barnes - Starter for the Sacramento Kings - Starter for his whole career, incl. West, who represented the school in its legal battle to make the playoffs, remembers the politically charged atmosphere at the time. The Mesquite Horn offensive coach and quarterback who once led Carters team to victory remembers his high school days fondly it was the time, he says, he really felt like he was playing for the community. I was still feeling the sting of that decision, he said. Eva-Marie Ayala/Staff Writer, Mesquite Horn offensive coordinator Robert Hall during football practice at John Horn High School in Mesquite. on a championship team in 2015. And so he stands by his story, warts and all, as it unfolds across theater screens beginning today. But while this is a film about some football players making some bad decisions, its also a film about many other players who didnt go down the wrong path. Former state District Judge Joe Kendall in his sentencing of Carter High players. By Laura RiceDecember 22, 20159:45 amArts & Culture, Sports. I am a former NFL football player, he says, 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys and the last year with the Oakland Raiders.. He finishes his junior college career as the No. I guess they found somebody thats got my side," Russeau said. hide caption, The 1988 Carter High School football team won that year's Texas state championship. However, when it comes to violating the law, at the courthouse it simply doesn't matter than you can run the football.'. Johnson performed well in the spring, and Kiffin has said hes in competition for Florida Atlantics starting job heading into fall camp. To this day, former Principal Clarence C. Russeau insists Carter did nothing wrong in regards to the eligibility controversy. He begins as arguably the teams biggest star, earning offers from Florida State and Auburn before producing the highlight of the season when he went airborne over a defender to score a touchdown against Mississippi Gulf Coast. Gary Edwards, 17, a football player who played a prominent role in Carter's drive for a state championship, was sentenced to 16 years on three counts. Chelsea is an Audience Journalist who promotes Dallas Morning News content on various social media platforms and manages the homepage. Russeau, who rose from a shoe shiner to a teacher and administrator, was inducted into the local African American Hall of Fame for his contributions to Dallas education. Reporters noted that another Dallas high school star in the early 1980s, Charles Washington, had his college career interrupted by a prison sentence but went on to graduate from college and be drafted by the Indianapolis Colts last spring. 'Instead of these young men getting a college education, they will get an education from the TDC,' West said. One Gets 20 Years. The first thing that came up is I got kicked out of Penn State. They were encouraged in part by the May 31 Time magazine cover depicting Carter alongside the headline "Dixie Whistles a Different Tune." Inside, a flattering profile framed Carter as a model "New South" governor. The film tells the emotionally charged story of one of the greatest and. Additionally, the audio story, as did a previous Web version, state that six Carter High School football players served time in prison. Parents, teachers and school officials fought back, and in the end Carter was allowed to play. So thats the impact that I wanted to leave.. He's most known for locking his undefeated basketball team out of the Richmond High School gym in 1999 due to poor academic performance. Nine of the teens were high school football players, three of whom played for Hillcrest but lived in the Carter neighborhood. DALLAS -- Ten current and former high school students, including five members of Dallas Carter's Class 5A championship football team, were sentenced to prison terms Friday by a judge who told. You know, Im a people person, and I just enjoy being around people.. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. 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