Students from Florida A&M University’s (FAMU) School of Journalism & Graphic Communication (SJGC) formally accepted the award for winning the 2024 Coca-Cola HBCU Sports Production Grant competition. The students were honored during the 45th Annual Sports Emmy Awards held in New York.
FAMU SJGC alumnus Jonathan David (Class of 2024), sophomore Darnell Walker Jones, and seniors Germanie Bozeman, Jalon Howard, and Tristian Hutton received the honors and this win, under the guidance of Edward Thomas, advisor and FAMU TV-20 general manager, marks the second consecutive year FAMU SJGC has received recognition from the program.
Their Emmy Award-winning submission, “Field Trip,” was noted for its creative video and essay addressing the competition’s theme, “The Past, Present and Future.” The film is a poignant portrayal of the late Pro Football Hall of Famer Ken Riley and his enduring impact on the sport.
Field Trip is a peek at the journey of former FAMU great Ken Riley. With an awesome career in Bartow at Union Academy, he was selected to play for legendary coach Jake Gaither at Florida A&M.
Riley was an All-SIAC quarterback and excelled in the classroom, earning a Rhodes Scholar nomination. He would never get the chance to play quarterback in the NFL as blacks were generally moved from that position when they made it to the NFL. During that time the position of quarterback was generally reserved for white players.
Riley went on to a stellar NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, ending his time in the league as the No.4 leader in interceptions as a defensive back; a position he had never played before being drafted by the Bengals. However, he was overlooked for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for nearly 40 years. He would pass in 2021. In 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals would enshrine him into their first Ring of Honor and in 2023, he finally got the call to Canton, OH for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Months later, the football field where he played his college games at FAMU was named after him.
Presented by ESPN anchor Elle Duncan, NATAS, and The Coca-Cola Company, FAMU SJGC’s students were awarded a $40,000 grant during the ceremony. During her remarks, Duncan underscored the significance of the funds to foster talent within the HBCU community.
Jonathan David, “Field Trip’s” director, producer, and writer, expressed his gratitude for the competition while reflecting on FAMU SJGC’s second consecutive win and lauding the dedication and talent exhibited by all the participating students.
“It feels great! After winning once, you understand a little bit more about what it takes to tell a great story. We tried to push the limit a bit more with the storytelling and with the help of Mr. Thomas and the team, we were able to add a unique perspective to the film. The moment doesn’t really hit you until you’re about to go on stage and be recognized for your work. It feels more surreal the second time around. But I can’t say I’m the sole winner. Like I mentioned on stage, it takes an incredible team to create a project like Field Trip. I hope the film is around for decades to come,” he said.
The Coca-Cola HBCU Sports Production Grant competition, a collaboration with the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, was established to highlight the outstanding talents of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the realm of sports media. Finalists displayed a diverse range of projects from various HBCUs. The breadth of entries, spanning from documentaries to dance narratives, further underscored the talent within the HBCU community and the multifaceted nature of sports storytelling.
David hopes the win is not the end of the story. “The plan was to create a film that educated the public about the legacy of Ken Riley and win the HBCU Sports Production Grant. We managed to do both so anything beyond that is icing on the cake. Obviously, there are thoughts of distribution. There were a ton of major markets present at the show so if we could get the film to appear in front of a larger audience with the help of a major distributor that would be amazing,”