Show Cover

Everybody touch somebody.

# Review

Being a Canadian I don’t follow American college football but I know it’s a massive industry with a large following in the States, especially the large D1 programs. This docuseries, however, is not about college football, it’s about junior college football. Juco schools have smaller programs and don’t receive as much fanfare as college football. This series follows one such juco program: East Mississippi Community College, who has a team consisting of players who view juco as their last chance to get into a D1 program and eventually the NFL. The players have their personal backstories, which range from flunking out or not qualifying academically in D1 schools, to players just looking for more playing time.

The show follows EMCC’s dramatic 2015 season and explores different aspects of the EMCC football program, from the players to the support staff, which includes the brash head coach Buddy Stephens and the caring academic advisor Brittany Wagner. The docuseries has high production value and really captures the trials of the team and also the support of the community surrounding the football program. As with all good sports documentaries, Last Chance U showcases the passion of the game days and both the emotional highs and lows.

One thing that is pretty interesting is the motivation of the football players. Many of the players have no interest in pursuing a non-football career and view academics as a hurdle they must pass to play football. There are many socioeconomic factors which contribute to this, such as many of the players growing up in poverty and in broken homes. I’m not quite sure how to feel about this, as on one hand football has provided them with an opportunity to be famous and make lots of money, but on the other hand, the players are forgoing the chance of pursuing careers outside of football. Another question is whether the schools should continue pretending that many of the players are there to pursue an education. While some players attend these football programs to pursue an education, for the top football programs, I’d wager that the vast majority of the players are looking to pursue football as a career. Academics thus becomes an obstacle to these players pursuing their football careers.

# Conclusion

An interesting look at juco football.

# Overall rating: 7.7

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