ESPN announced it was working on four new SEC Storied documentaries for football season during the SEC Network presentation at SEC Media Days. The SEC Storied series started on ESPNU back in September 2011 as a partnership between ESPN and the league. The new films will all air on the SEC Network.
The new movies will air on SEC Network. They will debut throughout August and September.
The first documentary up will be Stacy’s Gift. It tells the story of University of Arkansas golfer Stacy Lewis, who overcame scoliosis as a child to pursue her golf dream, win a national championship, and eventually climb to the top of the women’s golf world rankings. Stacy’s Gift was directed by Kenan Holley, who has helmed three other SEC Storied projects. It premiers August 26.
Scramblin’ Fran will debut on September 4. It is a biography of Fran Tarkenton, who became an SEC legend after choosing the University of Georgia over Georgia Tech. It will be a co-production alongside NFL Films and will cover Tarkenton’s life from a high school star in Athens, to UGA, to the NFL, all the way up to his current day business ventures.
ESPN Films will be adapting a 30 for 30 Short into a full length documentary for the third SEC Storied film. The Sweet Solution is about a sports drink developed for the University of Florida football team in 1965. You may remember the old commercial featuring one of the scientists behind the beverage saying “naturally, we called our stuff Gator-Aide”. The 30 for 30 Short, The Sweet Solution debuted in 2015 to celebrate Gatoraide’s 50th anniversary. The full length documentary debuts September 18.
Finally, By Grantland Rice will debut on September 25. It celebrates the life of Grantland Rice, a Vanderbilt University graduate that had one of the most prolific careers the sports journalism world has ever known. By Grantland Rice is directed by Joe Lavine, who directed the SEC Storied film In Search of Derrick Thomas and the 30 for 30 film Playing for the Mob.