BOWL GAME ARMAGEDDON
The true story of the most politically explosive football game in history
FILM TITLE
Bowl Game Armageddon
The true story of the most politically explosive football game in history, the 1956 Sugar Bowl. We’re currently raising $150,000 for development. Your donation or investment will also contribute to history and beyond the film. All contributors will be listed on our Special Thanks list page.
Rosa Parks, Emmett Till
1950s Climate
The 1956 Sugar Bowl took place in the wake of court-ordered desegregation of public schools, the incendiary Emmett Till murder trial, and the Montgomery bus boycott. Since its 1935 inception, no black player had taken the field in the Deep South.
Bobby Grier
First African American Football Player to Break the Color Barrier
Segregationists tried to keep Pitt fullback/linebacker Bobby Grier from playing in the 1956 Sugar Bowl because he was black.
This game was correctly perceived as a bellwether for the future of integration in the United States.
Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin
Denounced Georgia Tech’s Participation in The 1956 Sugar Bowl
Avowed racist Gov. Griffin publicly threatened Georgia Tech’s President Blake Van Leer to cancel The Sugar Bowl game.
He did not want Georgia teams to engage in racially integrated events that had blacks either as participants or in the stands. He also attempted to pass bills to restrict funding from universities which adhered to integration.
“The South stands at Armageddon. The battle is joined. We cannot make the slightest concession to the enemy in this dark and lamentable hour of struggle. There is no more difference in compromising integrity of race on the playing field than in doing so in the classroom. One break in the dike and the relentless enemy will rush in and destroy us.”
- Governor Griffin
Georgia Tech President Blake Van Leer
Rejects GA Governor’s Segregation Demands, Threatens to Resign
Georgia Tech President Van Leer was already catching heat for allowing women into Georgia Tech.
Nevertheless, he vehemently rejected Gov. Griffin’s racist demands, which was not a stand to serve him well in the 1950s; death threats ensued.
"Either we're going to
the Sugar Bowl,
or you can find yourself another damn president of Georgia Tech."
- Georgia Tech President, Blake Van Leer
1956 Sugar Bowl Riots
Georgia Governor Receives Local and National Backlash
Protests and riots rained down nationally against Gov. Griffin. Griffin requested Van Leer and GA Tech players to be punished.
Van Leer remained unwavering against Griffin, receiving a standing ovation from the faculty senate.
Breaking the Sugar Bowl Color Barrier
First Racially Integrated Bowl Game
Ultimately, Georgia Tech went to The Sugar Bowl and Bobby Grier was able to play.
This marked the first integrated Sugar Bowl in history and the first integrated bowl game in the Deep South.
Two Unsung War Heroes
Historic Contributors to the Civil Rights Movement
A fight worth dying over, Van Leer passed away from a heart attack three weeks after the game.
The stress of the controversy was believed to have killed him.
The win for racial justice represented by the 1956 Sugar Bowl led to a major backlash.
Today, however, Pitt and Georgia Tech are annual rivals, and Grier is a celebrated member of the Sugar Bowl Hall of Fame.
Grier resides in Pittsburgh and is excited to be part of this film project.
Book
Links to Outline & First Chapter
Digital Highlights
Online Stories
Documentary
ESPN Sizzle
Major Motion Picture Opportunity
Examples
Organic Traffic Sources
Potential Reach - Social, Digital & TV
| Traffic Sources | Total Reach |
|---|---|
|
Sugar Bowl Search
|
1,679,888+
|
|
Georgia Tech Football Website
|
5,232,000+ |
|
Annual Sugar Bowl Viewers
|
13,298,000+
|
|
GT Social Media
|
400,000+
|
|
College Football Fans
|
47,500,000+
|
|
University of Pittsburgh
|
2,400,000+
|
|
Pitt Social Media
|
414,624+
|
Intellectual Property
Van Leer & Grier Archives
The families have an historical archive of related events for this film, which include:
- Journals
- Letters
- Original copy of interviews and bios
- Voice recordings
- Film recordings
- Global support in media and telegram for Grier
- Telegrams threatening and supporting Blake Van Leer
- Stories about the Secret Sorority House on Georgia Tech Campus for Women, founded by Ella Wall Van Leer (wife of Blake Van Leer)
- Correspondence from Ella Wall Van Leer and other family
- Commencement programs
- Certificates
- Programs and publications documenting Van Leer’s career
- Correspondence from family
- Scrapbooks
- Wedding books
- Grier’s Air Force career
- Van Leer’s Army career
Producers
Team behind film
Jason Berman
President of Mandalay Pictures
Anthony Mackie
Producer, Director, Actor
Kellon Akeem
Producer
Blake R Van Leer III
CTO & CGO For Kathy Ireland
Bobby Grier & Rober Grier
Trailblazer & Executive
Nick Yarborough
Writer