Woodlawn

Woodlawn is a 2015 American Christian sports drama film directed by the Erwin Brothers. Based on the true story of Tandy Gerelds and Tony Nathan, it stars Sean Astin, Nic Bishop, Caleb Castille, Sherri Shepherd, Jon Voight, and C. Thomas Howell. It was produced by Kevin Downes and Daryl Lefever with Crescent City Pictures and Red Sky Studios and was released on October 16, 2015, by Pure Flix Entertainment. Plot Miami Dolphins superstar running back Tony Nathan attended Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama during the early 1970s. Nathan became a model student and the first black football superstar in Alabama history. He and other black students played on the mainly white team under coach Tandy Gerelds at a time when racial tensions were very high. He was credited with helping to unify the team, which went on to play the biggest high school game in Alabama history. After high school Nathan played for Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama. He later played under coach Don Shula with the Miami Dolphins and was a starter in two Super Bowls. The 2015 film Woodlawn starring Caleb Castille as Nathan and Nic Bishop as Coach Gerelds, with Jon Voight as Bear Bryant is based on his high school years. When Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama, is controversially desegregated in 1973, gifted black athlete Tony Nathan and several other black players join the school's predominantly white football team. The coach, Tandy Gerelds, tells the team to use their shared anger at repeated violent incidents to unite them, but black and white players clash on and off the field. After a riot at the school, Gerelds lets traveling sports chaplain Hank Erwin speak to the team as a "motivational speaker". Hank's speech moves nearly the entire team to accept Hank's invitation to commit their lives to follow Jesus Christ, and to join in prayer and work. Gerelds does not accept the invitation, and is unsure what to make of the event.