So Hard To Be A Ram: Why Are You Here?

I am a lot of things. I’m the founder of HBCU Gameday. I’m a journalist. And I’m a graduate of Winston-Salem State University.

At times those three fit together. If I hadn’t gone to WSSU in 2004 and graduated five years later (yes, I was a redshirt senior), there may not be an HBCU Gameday. Despite that fact though, it has always been important to be especially objective with my alma mater as this platform is for coverage of HBCU sports as a whole. I’d like to think I’ve done a pretty good job of that.

With that in mind, it’s been my aspiration to find creative ways to tell the stories of our institutions through athletics, and I’ve always wanted to produce a documentary.

WSSU’s football team is coming off back-to-back CIAA championships and looking to win a third-straight conference crown. It has won the conference title a dozen times, but never three in a row. It’s something that hasn’t happened in the conference since Hampton did it in the 1990s. It’s also the 40th anniversary of the school’s first conference title and the 30th anniversary of the first team that won the CIAA title game.

That is part of a bigger year for the school as it prepares to celebrate its 125th year as an institution of higher learning. The school has undergone a new branding campaign and revealed a new Rams logo on August 19th.

WSSU has given me the opportunity to chase my goals by giving myself and HBCU Gameday the access to not only its practice fields but its locker rooms and player-coach meetings as it prepares for what it hopes will be a historic season.

My goal is to tell the story of the football team, and the school, in an accurate and honest manner.

The title of the web-series/documentary “So Hard To Be A Ram” comes from the school’s unofficial fight song. It was also the title of an earlier documentary shot 10 years ago by my late friend Jonathan Wedlock, a former football player who passed away earlier this year way too soon. This is a tribute to him as much as anything.

Hopefully this will be the first of many webseries here at Gameday, but this project will need support to reach it’s full potential. You can donate via Go Fund Me, or buy a “So Hard To Be A Ram” shirt.

It should be a fun ride. Be sure to subscribe to our Youtube channel, follow us on Facebook and of course check HBCUGameday.com for updates.