EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-award winning director Steve Trout of NFL Films was sitting in a nondescript hotel conference room in Dallas, the clock ticking towards the biggest shoot of a documentary to be call…
“Yesterday, we pre-lit everything,” Trout told Deadline. “Today was a full day of rehearsal.” If he was feeling pressure, he wasn’t letting on.
The warehouse floors ran about the length of a football field. On the third floor seven armchairs were arranged in a horseshoe to accommodate the legends. Then, on a sunny October morning, the film subjects began to arrive, pulling up one after another in black SUVs. A Steadicam operator wove around as they dismounted from the vehicles, capturing the first footage in what would amount to several hours of filming. On the second floor staging area, a tingling sense of excitement had been building.
It astonishes virtually everyone, even those steeped in football lore, how few people have earned the “H2H” distinction. “More men have walked on the moon,” notes publicity materials for the doc. “I’m just glad that I’m amongst greatness,” Dorsett, the University of Pittsburgh and Dallas Cowboys running back noted. “I have nothing but a lot of admiration for Earl Campbell. And this man right here—I have never seen nobody run the football like Barry Sanders did.”Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen chat during a breakAs filming continued, more stories spilled out. Sanders recalled not being heavily recruited out of high school . Staubach played for the U.S.
The film will try to solve a mystery that may ultimately defy explanation—what drove these men, more than any others, to succeed at the highest level in college and the pros. Lots of Heisman winners have crashed out before making much of an impact in the NFL . Tim Brown won his Heisman as a wide receiver at Notre Dame, and built a Hall of Fame career mostly playing for the L.A. and Oakland Raiders. He’s an executive producer of the film and came up with the idea to bring the guys together.