Season 6
The Movie
A 0 and 2 start, a 21 to 0 comeback, a goal-line call the Hurricanes still argue about, and Braden Hicks's first title.
Watch the filmEvery season of TFL gives us hours of footage. Season 6 was the first time I knew, in the middle of a game, that it had to be a movie. It was the playoff game between the Hurricanes and the Kraken. The Hurricanes had started the year 0 and 2. Jared's Kraken were up 21 to 0 and it looked finished. I was about to put the camera down because there was nothing left to film. Then something switched. A jump ball, a catch nobody was sure was down, and suddenly it was a tie game. By the end, the sideline was losing its mind and Stetz was shushing the other team's bench.
How it opens
We start with Israel Schuman, and the opening is meant to feel like a victory lap. His first throw sails over Jack's head and hits the broadcast booth. By the last play, he's scoring a touchdown in a 21 to 0 win. Israel is back, and he's not shy about it. Then we slow down with Grant. He talks about the loss from two seasons ago, how hard he took it, and how he felt like he wasn't giving the organization or the fans what they deserved. That's the emotional starting point for the Hurricanes.
The draft
We use the draft to introduce everyone. Jared's Kraken take Trevor Craner. Callan Wood's Hi-Steppers grab Zane Burke at three, and Callan says he'd have taken him first. Israel gets his chip on his shoulder when the Criminoles pass on him for Josh Sparks, which gives us his history with Gabe, the Criminoles' captain. Braden Hicks's Fighting Amish take Timmy Jordan second, and the draft makes clear who everyone is afraid to line up against. Braden powers through people or shifts around them, so there's almost no way to guard him.
The 0 and 2 start
This is the Hurricanes' low point. A nervous rookie in his first game, a defense that can't keep up with the speed, and teammates who don't know each other yet. They lose game one, and the loss to Israel's Renegades in game two is another gut punch. I wanted viewers to feel how little the regular season matters to a team like this, and how much the word “playoffs” lights Grant up.
The comeback
This is the emotional center of the film and I let it breathe. We start with the Kraken feeling great at 21 to 0, with Jared admitting that when everything's going right, you start to get complacent. Then Grant on the other side saying he thought there was no way back. The cutting is fast and loud: the jump ball, the tie game, the shush, the final whistle. I used as many different voices as I could in the finish, because everyone on the field and the sideline lived it differently.
“The most epic comeback you'll ever see.”FROM THE FILM
The rivalries
Jackson and Israel, on the Renegades. Two captains, or one captain and one guy who thinks he's the captain. Jackson gets mic'd up and predicts the first play, “watch this,” and then it works. It's the funniest scene in the film. Then Israel vs. Gabe: the old argument about whether Israel was in on a disputed catch four years ago. Everyone has an opinion, and the video evidence only settles it for the guys who already agreed. It ends on “he's washed,” which I couldn't have scripted.
“Yeah, I haven't seen much coming out of him in the past, I don't know, four years. So, yeah, he's washed.”FROM THE FILM
The Amish
The comeback earns the Hurricanes a shot at Braden's Fighting Amish, and this is where the film turns. The Hurricanes' plan was to slow Braden down. Then comes fourth down at the goal line at 14 to 14, a call the Hurricanes still see as heartbreaking and disrespectful to their organization. Braden catches it short, gets tapped, and falls back into the end zone. From there the Amish are a juggernaut, scoring on every possession and winning 28 to 14. Braden finally has a quarterback who gives him the ball, and Timmy puts it right on him.
The championship
The Amish face Callan's team, with Zane and Kelsen, and everyone on the Amish side admits they didn't want that matchup. The game turns on a handful of plays: a safety, Ryan Chell doing the unglamorous work and then finding the end zone, and a huddle where Timmy, Braden and Chell decide the game ends right here. Braden sprints down the sideline, Timmy puts it in the right spot, and the Fighting Amish are champions. I wanted the last stretch to feel simple, because after a season of arguments, the ending is two or three guys trusting each other.
The off-season
We end with the fan base. Trolls in the comment sections, one player switching to a flip phone for a year, a shouting match with a sponsor over T-shirt sizes, and a few laughs about the female fans who always cheered for him. TFL is a league of friends, and I think that comes through in how ridiculous they all are.
Stills
That the guy everyone said couldn't be guarded finally got his title, and that the best game of the year didn't belong to the champions.
Watch Season 6: The Movie