(birds chirps) (wind whooshes) (slow beat begins) (players chants) - [Joe Bates] Oakland, California, like a lot of inner-cities that have violent crime issues at alarming rates is a bubble.

If you can't get out of that bubble, then you'll get stuck here and it could be destructive.

- [Kweke Garth Jr.] Growing up, I didn't really think much of it because it's actually gotten worse.

As I'm getting older, I'm like, what do I need to do to get out?

- [Joe Bates] They don't have the time to be sitting around when we can offer some opportunities to get out of this area.

COVID is killing us, but not being in sports, not being active for this age group is more detrimental.

(low electro music) (bird chirps) - Back when I was younger, one of the incidents like danger-wise, you know what I mean, it was a guy got stabbed and then he died right in this little yard over here.

- We grew up in this neighborhood when we was kids, so everything that was happening, that's first-hand experience, so that's what we knew.

- Elizabeth, probably, one of the worst streets in this area.

Seminary, obviously, notorious as being one of the worst crime-wise streets in the city.

- Growing up, I would never walk down here.

Never.

There was just killings over here, too much.

Probably the last time I walked down here, was probably over 20 years ago, but I'm walking down here now.

(motorcycle revs) (people shouts) (footsteps rustles) - All right, here we go.

(footsteps rustles) (team huddle chants) - I've been wanting to go to the NFL since I started watching football, when I was a youngin.

Seven years old, dreamed about playing in the NFL one day.

- Jog.

(footsteps eases) - Sprint, (heavy footsteps quickens) past me.

(player shouts) - Come on!

(people chatters) - My goals was pretty much to be good at what I was doing and something that I loved and move up from there, from youth to high school and then to college.

(person shouts) - When the pandemic happened, they said we was going to have two weeks off.

So I think it was going to be like a little, little spring break.

After that month went by and we still didn't go back, I was confused.

I didn't know the COVID-19 virus was that serious.

- I'm just like, "What's going to happen next?

Will we have a season?

What will the season look like?

We even be going back to school?"

(hip hop beats begins) - My family's struggling with money.

We don't got money just to go to some college.

So getting an offer, just getting anything paid for, dorms or food or whatever is going to help out a lot.

- Finishing college and playing college football.

I would be the first to do in my family, that would be very big.

That shows that I can be great in life and successful in life.

(team huddle chants) - [Joe Bates] COVID and not being able to participate, and play a sport or run around and see your teammate has been destructive academically, and emotionally, mentally, and obviously physically for a lot of them.

- There we go, hope y'all paid attention.

- The importance of having the opportunity to get recruited, the opportunity to get good grades in person, is life or death for a lot of kids.

Like, obviously with Aaron Pryor, off our team.

(crowd cheers) (whistle blows) ♪ OJR Trophy Boys going back to back ♪ ♪ Never seen a All-Star that can play and rap ♪ ♪ Every time I see the other team they give me dap ♪ - When Aaron Pryor first came, as soon as he came he was like a brother to us.

It wasn't like he was new there.

- He a real beast on the field.

Like, I've been looking at his highlights and I just feel like that is not my brother.

He always used to say, watch when I make it.

That was his favorite line.

Y'all gonna remember my name.

I'ma be in the NFL.

That's going to be me on TV, watch.

- Just like you could see him with developing as a real teenager.

Like, God, this is my son and I'm hecka proud.

He went to jail for the longest time he ever did in his life when he was 14 years old and he did nine months, he was doing armed robberies.

That was like the hardest thing I was going through because I'm telling him like, "You messing up your football."

I used to go visit him, I used to be telling him like, "Bro, this is where you want to be?"

Like, "No, Dad."

And he had got out from that nine months and he wasn't getting in no trouble.

(team shouts) - [Joe Bates] He reached out and said, "Hey coach, I want to play in Skyline.

I'm ready to go."

- I told Bates, whenever I was like, "Man, you know, Aaron, he a rough player, he gets in trouble.

This, this, that.

You know what I mean?

He got an ankle monitor on, he just got out of jail."

He's like, "Man I ain't trippin.

I'm not about to judge him.

I done saved a lot of people like that."

- [Joe Bates] We knew the pressures that he had around him.

And then man, like he starts showing up to the little workouts at the parks and starts building relationships with some of the other teammates he didn't know.

- [ALL] One, two, three, four, five.

- He was into it again and was like, "Dad, I'm about to change everything.

It's just I gotta slow down."

And he knew that though, he had to slow down.

- He talked about how he would want to go to college football then transfer, like how he's gonna get drafted, all the stuff.

I was like, "Ok brother.

You just got to stay focused."

Like, I feel like football was his peace.

- [Joe Bates] I was growing to love that kid for different reasons.

Me personally, because he grew up one street over, that I grew up on, so I was familiar with his surroundings.

So, I would call and check in on him a little more than the other kids.

If it was going to go to the negative, it was gonna because we couldn't grab him, like we could have, if COVID wasn't around.

(dog barks) - The COVID hit, man.

And he just was like, "I can't do this, bro."

Like, "I can't sit in the house."

and like "Dad, I'll be doing everything.

I go to school on the internet, still I do this.

I do that."

He had to go to court.

They took the ankle monitor off.

So now you got COVID and you got him with his ankle monitor off.

He just got caught up with the wrong friends again.

(somber music) He had went with some guys and did a robbery.

When he went to rob them, he got the stuff from the dudes.

They ended up making it home.

(somber music) His sisters now was telling me like, "Yeah, I'm hearing Aaron on the phone.

He's arguing with some guys and they're like, 'Man, just come outside bro and lets just talk.'"

When he went outside, I don't know how it started, but Aaron and the dude was shooting back and forth at each other.

And then the dudes ended up shooting him.

They shot him five times.

(somber music) - I was in Las Vegas.

My sister texts me saying Aaron's dead.

When I called her, everybody was crying.

And I'm just like no this is not real, like.

And I just remember me being way in Vegas.

I just remember me being way in Vegas.

And I just was thinking about Aaron, like, this is crazy.

This is crazy.

I'll be riding past my house, thinking he's gonna look out the window.

Never gonna look out the window again.

- [Taijuan Pryor] When me and his mom went to go view his body, I ain't gonna ever forget that because that was the worst day ever in my life.

That was my first child.

That was my best friend.

That was my everything.

It's never going to be the same no more.

It's never going to be the same no more.

It's never going to be the same no more.

My son is just, I just want everybody to remember him as a diamond, like for real.

(hip hop music) (team huddle chants) (player grunts) - Set, go!

(footsteps quickens) (Jackson claps) - Aaaahhhhh!

- [Joe Bates] That's it?

Bring that shit up.

Bring it up.

Bring it up.

Bring it up.

Obvious we need more work.

It's obvious who's been working.

All right, obvious.

That's okay though.

That's why we out here.

We just need y'all to not quit, not quit.

Aaron's funeral maybe set Saturday, all right.

Just be, show your respects.

If you want to go, just be careful.

I want y'all to get in and get the fuck out of there.

Get in and get the fuck out of there.

I'm not saying that disrespectfully.

I'm saying that for your safety.

I'm saying that for your safety.

Killer's still on the loose.

Killer's still been circling the block where he, where he went down.

Now, as of a couple of days ago.

If you gon' go, go and get the fuck out of there.

All right?

- Family on me family on three.

One, two, three.

- [All] Family!

(somber music) (people chatters) (somber music) - [ALL PLAYERS] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.

- All right, so how do we defeat that?

Shit's kind of easy, y'all just gotta be aggressive, alright?

- I was pretty shocked because I didn't even know what was going on and what he was going through.

- [Joe Bates] What did we say?

All right, now I just made a play.

You can put that on your highlight tape, right?

- Just with all this stuff happening in Oakland, really when you're out, you just gotta stay.

You gotta stay tip toes and just watch your surroundings and make sure you're not at the wrong place at the wrong time, and watch what you're doing.

(wind whooshes) (cars zooms) - Aye that's crazy though how like, before Aaron had died, though how we was like really actually trying to reach out.

You know, his last little weeks of living.

- He was tryin to holla at him.

At that point it was just a little too late.

He was probably a little too deep in whatever he got into.

But definitely, it was a couple weeks before it happened, him and I, we had communicated about trying to help him out.

Try and get him on the right path.

The community gotta take over again.

That's where I feel like we're going wrong.

The community is allowing gangs, drugs and a lot of other things to happen.

We feel powerless.

We really look out our windows and point the finger and call the police versus stepping outside and introducing ourselves.

(hip hop beats begins) - [Joe Bates] You know I was just getting text messages and phone was getting blown up.

Then we're good to go.

It was exciting.

The boys, especially the seniors were super excited, but that was always my number one goal to keep them hopeful.

So, having this back is a breath of fresh air.

(team claps and clamors) - All right.

So fellas relay race, relay race.

- When we got the news from the governor uplifting the ban, everything was just crazy.

Because actually, I thought the season was over.

I thought there was no hope, just from them pushing the season back.

(Bates cheers) (player grunts) (player huffs) (team laughs) (team claps) - So we was supposed to be practicing at Castlemont for three more days, and then coming back to Skyline.

It was probably about 15, 20 minutes into practice, and out of nowhere all we hear is, bop, bop, bop.

We heard the coaches say get on the ground, get on the ground, and everybody was just laying on the floor.

And we laid there for probably about 20 minutes.

When I was on the ground my mind was just blank and confused.

Like, that was the last thing I'll be expecting to happen, getting back to football practice.

We said we weren't coming back to practice at Castlemont after that.

(hip hop beat begins) - Why he get a solo shot?

(hip hop beat plays) (person laughs) (hip hop beat plays) - All right, everybody close their eyes man, close 'em.

Just visualize, I need y'all to feel.

I need y'all to smell, smell the air, smell that tightened pride, smell them, smell them ancestors, man.

They're rising, they're praying for you, praying for your health, praying for your success, praying for your futures.

All right smell that victory.

I need y'all to feel a big play.

I need y'all to feel a 80 yard run.

Now, open your eyes.

I need you to feel this victory tonight.

1 and 0.

1 and 0.

Know your responsibilities.

48 fucking minutes.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

(team cheers) Line up, two lines right here.

(upbeat music) (team chatters) There you go Ty, there you go!

(whistle blows) - Let me talk to Joe man.

- Let me talk to him, let me talk to him.

- That's bullshit bro.

- I ain't see it.

- He's grabbing my guy.

He's grabbing my guy on the ground, bro.

- Let me handle this shit.

Let me handle this shit.

- [Joe Bates] Stop stooping to their level.

Lock in.

(crowd cheers) (whistle blows) (players shouts) - Get in over, boy.

- One, one.

Go for one, go for one.

PAT, PAT.

PAT, PAT.

- Hate to see that coach.

(players applaudes) - You gonna call it?

- Yeah.

- Okay all right.

Come on baby.

All right.

All right.

- [Joe Bates] Bring it in, bring it in, bring it in.

- We got like two games left in our high school careers and they are going to end this shit at halftime.

(team chatters) - [Joe Bates] We got plays to make alright and memories to keep.

But next on the clock is Castlemont.

We have to beat them.

- Family on me, family on 3.

1, 2, 3.

- [All] Family!

- The kids will eat em.

All right.

Another day in the books.

(hip hop beat begins) (team chatters) (hip hop beat plays) - No hands, he jumped before they said hike.

- Oh okay.

(whistle blows) - There it is!

There it is!

(whistle blows) (team cheers) - I keep looking to see where my son at, but you know, it's just a dad thing.

It gets me excited though, it's a good feeling.

Got him, got him.

Oh go!

Oh go!

(whistle blows) - I always was on the sideline with my son, everywhere my son went.

That was my best friend.

So yeah, I would have been as close as I can.

I would have been down there for sure with him.

Screaming him on.

Juiced.

I would've been like, "Yeah, that's my son!"

Like I've always been doing his whole life.

Like I'm one of them parents.

I ain't, I ain't scared.

I'm not, I'm not ashamed of what I'm proud of.

So.

(whistle blows) (hip hop music) - My mans what's up.

- I'm chilling how you doing?

- I'm smooth.

Shit, just try'na get up outta here with no injuries.

- I see it.

I see it.

- Thank you for coming man.

- For sure, bro.

Fasho.

- Right on, bro.

Appreciate you man.

- I'll see you later.

- One love.

Have a good rest of the week.

Hit me though, so I can get that to you.

- I got you.

- All right baby.

Aye, this fourth down.

Offense alert.

(hip hop beats begins) (whistle blows) - Bye!

- Pass!

(crowd cheers) - That's my boy!

(audience laughs) - There we go, yeah!

- Yes sir.

(hip hop beats plays) - [All] Pass!

(audience cheers) - Go, go, go!

(audience cheers) (whistle blows) - Let's go!

(hip hop beats plays) (player shouts)