EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has begun development on a Untitled Kenny Washington film about the triumphs and hardships of the first Black NFL player leading up to his professional debut with the Los Angeles Rams. La Monte Edwards is penning the script. Adam Scott Epstein will produce through his Comet Company banner, Cottrell B.
Guidry producing through his Stay Cool Productions Banner and Evan Silverberg, Darin Friedman and Guymon Casady producing through Entertainment 360. Ryan Rottman, Nate Raabe and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers exec producing through their Awkward Handshake production company. Washington’s story is set a year before Jackie Robinson revolutionized baseball, where his UCLA teammate, LA Rams running back Kenny Washington shattered the NFL’s color barrier, altering the course of sports history and igniting the civil rights movement.
Despite overcoming five knee surgeries, Washington played three seasons in the NFL, averaging 6.1 yards per carry and still holds the Rams’ record for the longest run from scrimmage with a 92-yard burst in 1947. After being shunned by the NFL because he was black, the All-American Washington joined the LAPD and played minor league football for the Hollywood Bears on weekends.
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