Two months after the big championship win at Texas Stadium, and after overcoming legal challenges due to grading system issues, the Carter High School football team was sent reeling after a number of their players got caught up in a robbery scheme. He continued to coach at Richmond High School until 2002, at which point he left to coach the LA Rumble, a professional SlamBall team. In fact, Muhammad said, none of the 10 Carter players involved in the armed robberies returned to prison after they were released. Frankly, I was shocked, recalled West, who also represented Edwards in his criminal case. Thanks to a likable cast of characters, Wagners brilliance and a newsworthy season Stephens was ejected for getting into a shoving match with a linesman one game, while a full-team brawl in the final regular season contest resulted in the premature end of EMCCs season the show took off and was quickly renewed for a second season. "What Carter Lost" (CBS11) It was a historic season that included a national football championship for the predominantly black . I just love seeing those little kids coming across and they reach out and catch my hand and I help them across. I thought North Shore in the mid-90s was close, too. The film airs on ESPN Thursday, August 24. Among those sentenced was Derric Evans, 17 years old, an all-America defensive back last year at Dallas Carter High School who lost a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee. Once I got out, I got a second chance, and I'm taking full responsibility for that.". So I dont feel anything in particular," Russeau said. That was done. The inspirational and true story starred Samuel L. Jackson as the new head coach of his old high school's basketball team, with the superstar portraying Ken Carter, the real-life figure who. "That personality followed me off the field, which caused me to get into trouble and make some bad decisions. Hes also baptized, causing him to muse on his unique situation. Millions of Texans have rare diseases. The team initially had to forfeit the games Edwards played in, but its playoff eligibility was reinstated for the first postseason game. We're not thugs.' He has long been devoted to his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha, overseeing the local chapter's economic development dealings. Talented and bold, the Oak Cliff team ruled high school football in Texas. Who knew I would have came to Scooba, Mississippi and find Christ and get saved, you know? Allen asked. Editor's note: This story was published as the movie 'Carter High' was set to hit theaters. March 1 (UPI) -- Animal officials in Missouri said on Tuesday it rescued 41 dogs from hazardous hoarder conditions in Newton County in Joplin. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 141 JUCO in 247Sports Composite West Georgia. Keith Campbell was one of those players. In a medium notorious for spinning fluffy resolutions from dire circumstances, the new film "Carter High" features a decidedly downbeat conclusion - 10 young men, including many of the film's main characters, sentenced to prison for armed robbery. 56 overall JUCO player and a Southern Miss commitment, is also ready to rock on defense. The CEO. On the field, the team faces an immediate challenge in that every returning player must sit out the season opener, leaving the Lions vastly undermanned in the very first game. The sentences were handed down before a courtroom packed with relatives of the 12 defendants, one of whom received a deferred sentence and one of whom was sent to a Texas Department of Corrections 'boot camp' for 75 days. / CBS Texas. He also went on to carry the Olympic torch in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. 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. ', Korean department story using AI to write ads. He called me crying that night, Carter said. Allen arrived at East Mississippi with arguably the most serious rap on his sheet, after he was indicted on a second-degree felony burglary of a habitation. All the other ones I had, I dont know where they went, Wright said. ", Former Katy High School football player Aundre Dean stars as a high school football player convicted of a series of robberies in the new film "Carter High. You know, they were middle-class kids, they had cars, they had all the clothes they want. This is a carousel. "I'm at peace where I am. Nine of the teens were high school football players, three of whom played for Hillcrest but lived in the Carter neighborhood. I was a junior that particular year. More recently its taken him as a high school football coach from Grand Prairie to Frisco to Mesquite. Carter High hits theaters here Oct. 30. New on 77WABC. Its a guaranteed story that will be told for generations, with arecord that will be likely painted up on a water tower or on a cityswelcome sign. He finishes his junior college career as the No. Gavin Evans is a contributor for Complex Media. Editor's note: Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News archives. Two other teens would later be arrested in connection with the. Chelsea Watkins. Bonner, who transferred from Louisville to East Mississippi, was seen as one of the teams great raw talents, a player with tremendous burst off the line. 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. The top-rated prospect on the East Mississippi team as the No. He wanted to be sure that the film showed a story as close to the truth as possible, making it clear that winning wasn't everything for this team. He slumped in his chair after his sentence was announced. 10 Texas Athletes Are Sentenced to Jail Terms for Robberies, https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/24/us/10-texas-athletes-are-sentenced-to-jail-terms-for-robberies.html. ''In six months' time,'' the judge said Friday, the teen-agers ''committed more armed robberies than Bonnie and Clyde did in a lifetime. Solomon: DeMeco Ryans the right coach at the right time, 3 pressing questions facing new Astros GM Dana Brown, Jabari Smith Jr. growing up in NBA with an assist from his father, Poor parent behavior is driving high school sports refs away. Parents, teachers and school officials fought back, and in the end Carter was allowed to play. on a championship team in 2015. Before sentencing, Judge Kendall lectured the youths for about 10 minutes, telling them they had no excuse for committing the crimes. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. A judge has sentenced 10 current and former high school athletes to prison terms of up to 25 years for their roles in numerous armed robberies in the Dallas area over the past year. The second episode of the season focuses heavily on Johnsons situation, with Johnson acknowledging his mistake and his parents expressing their disappointment. "As talented as these guys were, they can make a mistake and all that can be taken away from them," Ellis said. I didn't let it follow me around. Challenges went beyond players gambling. 12 junior college player in the 2017 247Sports Composite, Rivers arrived in Scooba after he was booted off the Georgia team for three marijuana arrests in a seven-month period. That is until right before junior college early enrollment National Signing Day. Law went down with a knee injury for a couple games. "I've never gone around worrying about getting in trouble again. Looking back on their involvement while serving time, Edwards and Evans came to a similar conclusion to their mindset while being a part of the football team. Carter won the state title but the story doesn't end there. 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. Things kept deteriorating to the point that Wright notes that he has two offers left: Louisiana Monroe and West Georgia. The senior guard is having a record-setting career at Colorado School of Mines. But his incident still follows him around in recruitment, with Allen stating that teams arent recruiting him because of the perception that Im a menace to society.. 46 JUCO in 247Sports Composite Mississippi State, CB TJ Jallow, No. Campbell said he hopes the film, which was shown to a crowded audience of young athletes, sends a strong message to them about the importance of making the right decisions. He signed with the University of Houston. DALLAS (CBS11) A private screening of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary "What Carter Lost," was held at the Texas Theatre on Wednesday night. Advocates are pushing for legislation to help them. When he came to Texas in 1996, the upper Midwesttransplant wouldn't have imagined heading a program that would give him four state championships. Hundreds of friends and relatives of the defendants wedged into a corridor outside the courtroom, and several began screaming and throwing their hands into the air after the sentences were announced. 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. State education officials, meanwhile, eventually prevailed in their legal fight with Carter over the grade change controversy, and the school was stripped of its 1988 championship in 1991. Thats been so long ago, almost 30 years. (He admitted to smoking weed during Last Chance U, which he said helped him battle attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)). "I just wanted people to notice me. In reality, Carter's basketball players did all graduate from high school, with many attending college. Before the crossing guard gig, James would organize outings for neighborhood seniors so they could pass the time telling stories to each others. Fifa mobile fell off so hard only sellable players now are high rated icons and toty's and 107 players sitting on 17 mill with 999+ people selling and the event is not making it better the next event they need to make good fodder packs or the market will be ruined Johnson was invited on a visit to Florida Atlantic on Dec. 9, was offered one day later. August 16, 2017 / 9:40 PM 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. Carter Family FILE - Lillian Carter is flanked by her sons Jimmy, right, and Billy as she met them down at Billy's gas station, where the Carters and neighbors cleaned fish prior to a town cookout . The players were arrested, tried and convicted. Your Favorite NFL Players of the '90s. Evans, 44, who in 1988 was talented enough to be considered one of the nation's top high school defensive backs and flamboyant enough to sign his letter of intent while sitting in a hot tub in front of television cameras, served six years of a 20-year prison term for committing four armed robberies in the spring of 1989. It was just the part about the football team and the adversity that we had to overcome, he says,that alone was a movie in and of itself.. To this day, former Principal Clarence C. Russeau insists Carter did nothing wrong in regards to the eligibility controversy. Many of them talk in the documentary about how much they lost and how they've tried to rebuild their lives. He was surprised a film was made so long after the fact and that he and others still in the area weren't contacted about the script. 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). Urban and suburban schools had just begun to play each other, he said, which brought out racial tensions. Health issues have slowed the 91-year-old down, but Russeau usually makes it to his Thursday night bible classes and the occasional fundraising gala. Focused on East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Miss., the show captured the win-at-all-costs coach Buddy Stephens, terrific academic counselor Brittany Wagner and a squad of players fighting up from the rungs of small town junior college football to try and earn a shot at the big time. According to Hootnick, it was "mostly two-parent families, mostly professionals. A lot of people already know the story of Friday Night Lights, in which a West Texas high school fights for the state football title. One of the players from the 1998-1999 season that Carter coached was Courtney Anderson, who became an NFL tight end and played for the Oakland Raiders, the Detroit Lions (the team both Eddie Brock and Axel Foley support), and the Atlanta Falcons from 2004 to 2007. Ken Carter is still very much in the full stride of his career having continued his work as a motivational speaker and author since the mid-'00s. Then after the championship win, the title and all of the accolades were stripped from the team when six of it's players were convicted and sentenced in a string of robberies throughout the Dallas area. I was younger, he says. When Kyler Murray was a senior, that Allen team was maybe in that league as well.. The debate between Yates and Carter in Texas is a popular one. Teenage boys were sent to prison. Caution, however, can work both ways. You know, Im a people person, and I just enjoy being around people.. The 1999 team did get locked out of the gym for poor academic performance during the 1998-1999 season. Carter began a successful career as a basketball analyst for ESPN, a co-host of "the NBA 2Night," and is currently an analyst on NBA TV. Coach Carter's controversial decision to lock the gym and keep his undefeated team from playing really did change the lives of everyone involved, including his. A prime candidate for a sports comedy like Dodgeball, SlamBall is a form of basketball that is played on four trampolines that also has a professional league that originally aired games on Spike TV. I think it shows football actually as the hedge, Muhammad says. And so to fall from grace like that, that's a long way down.". In another, the boys robbed a Mexican restaurant for $11,000. They didnt talk to me. It started with an plan to rob a local Jack in the Box and led to a string of others. Thats definitely still part of the film, but its not the main focus. Their faces may be a little more wrinkled, their hair a little thinner and their memories a lot hazier but . Things turned. The 1988 Dallas Carter High School football team stormed its way to a state championship -- only to be brought down by an armed robbery scandal which sent half a dozen players to prison.. March 1 (UPI) -- Britain's former health secretary allegedly rejected critical advice from the country's top medical officer to test elderly people for COVID-19 and keep them segregated prior to admitting them to care homes. That title, until it was forfeited, belonged to Dallas Carter High School. Most Americans with diabetes don't get recommended new medications. After "Kotter," Hegyes starred in "Cagney and Lacey," as well . 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. You know, be it good or be it bad. At the courthouse, it simply doesnt matter that you can run the football. The success and failures in life are a lot of times in our control, he said. ", In the film, Hootnick interviews Texas high school football stars who went on to play professionally. According to the real Ken Carter in an interview with The Chicago Sun-Times, most of the story from the movie is accurate (via MTV). In a previous photo caption, filmmaker Adam Hootnick's last name was misspelled as Hootnik. About the time Derric Evans was signing a college letter of intent in a hot tub, he was involved with other Dallas Carter students in a string of robberies. According to the real-life Ken Carter, the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams were all 13-0, which was the best start in school history. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. But. 86 JUCO in 247Sports Composite Mississippi State, WR Brooks Shannon, No. After the Coach Carter movie came out, Ken Carter became a motivational speaker and is the founder of the Coach Ken Carter Foundation which, just like in the movie, focuses on improving the lives of BIPOC students through education, training, and mentoring. Not the racial tensions of the time. But it didn't happen, and I can't sit around and cry about it. Thats it. Evans and the other former Carter players have praised the accuracy of their former teammate's account, and he now freely discusses his part in the Carter saga, both good and bad. It serves as a cautionary tale, Ellis said, to young viewers today. 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. 41 dogs rescued from hoarder conditions in Missouri. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. He scored six points on 3-for . Wright signed with West Georgia, a Division II program. But it would be a surprise if East Mississippi C.C. Ken Carter was heavily involved in the production of the film and made sure that the story was as close to accurate as possible. The famed "golden boy" of Enron, Jeffrey Skilling is back on the Houston energy scene with a new startup. You can see somebody like Jessie Armstead go to the highest heights in the game and use that to set themselves up for life. "But will got me through being locked up, and will got me where I am today. He often refers to her as Vivica now, after actress Vivica Fox who plays her in the movie. One of the few holdovers from season one, Wright famously put himself on the kickoff team in the first episode of the series, scoring on a long return and helping to kick the Lions into gear. And there are plenty of tales about James. As the credits roll for "Carter High," viewers hear comments from some of the real Carter players, including Evans, who served prison time, talking about the consequences of their actions. Permian is one of two large 5A high schools, the other being Odessa High School. I think at some level they were chasing a rush.". He hopes this new movie wont dwell on the robberies and the mistakes his teammates made as much as he says the first Friday Night Lights movie did. Had, I was shocked, recalled West, who also represented Edwards in his after! The Olympic torch in the game and use that to set themselves up for.! 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