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Football Story Tugs At The Heart

Football Story Tugs At The Heart

Recently Disney+ released a movie which is about a freshman college athlete trying to get the hang of balancing his school with college football at Clemson, a school that prioritizes football practices. Although, on top of it all, he tries to be there for his little brother. However, when Ray Ray gets a phone call from his brother, he is determined to go back home and figure out what is going on, something that Ray Ray doesn’t know about.

When Ray Ray gets home he finds his brother alone and with no food at home. He then came to the conclusion that his mom has left and it doesn’t sound like it is the first time. When they go to see her they are told she has left for rehab and his little brother would have to go into foster care for 30 days until his mom is out of her treatment. That’s when Ray Ray gets the idea to sneak his brother onto campus. Doing that just makes it harder. 

After all the stress Ray Ray is on, he misses one of his most important exams and then doesn’t get his head in the game for football that the coach yells, “Is this the freshman you were talking about? There is nothing special about him. Are we just handing out scholarships to the Salvation Army?” This just breaks Ray Ray’s heart and right after this he gets a call from his brother’s school. All of it just gets harder on Ray as he’s trying to parent his brother on top of school and football. 

As things get tougher for Ray Ray he tells the truth and his brother goes into foster care as his mom decides to have an even longer treatment which costs Ray to risk his spot on the football team in case his mom doesn’t get better. 

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Many things do get better for this family though as they overcome the difficulty and get a waiver from the NCAA so teammates and coaches can help Ray be the best brother and legal guardian that will actually be there for Fay. 

All in all, this movie is absolutely beautiful and just makes you feel so many emotions. This is also a true story based on Ray McElrathbey (Ray Ray) and his life based on having a drug addict mother. McElrathbey made history in 2006 and was all over the news and even made an appearance on Oprah. His story really made an impact and after telling People over a decade ago, he is glad to make his life into a movie to touch others hearts. 

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Football Story Tugs At The Heart