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.
“This grant was established to help cultivate more diversity in sports, media, and journalism,” 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.
Related
Source link : hbcugameday.com
