HBO Sports along with executive producers Peter Berg and Sarah Aubrey have again joined forces to take on the four newest editions of the short sports documentary series State of Play
Part one of the series titled ‘Happiness’ will air on Tuesday Nov. 18, 10pm EST, and from there will air back-to-back, each week offering viewers an intimate view into a part of sports that is in need of storytelling.
Happiness hones in on the lives of athletes once their playing careers are a thing of the past, and addresses the profound ‘what’s next?’ question that comes with giving up the craft which defined their lives. The subjects of the documentary included the likes of Brett Favre, Michael Strahan, Wayne Chrebet, Howie Long, Terry Bradshaw and Tiki Barber.
The project was partially put together by Michael Strahan–who of recent has become the poster boy of athletes post-career success stories, he was executive producer of the film and reached out to his former colleagues to get their take on their personal journeys to ‘happiness’. During the special NYC screening on Thursday night Strahan opened up about how he got involved in the project after a fortuitous meeting with the writer/director Andrea Blaugrind Nevins and producer Cristin Reilly, he stated:
“We started talking about athletes and life afterward, all those different things,” he said. “At the time I was doing a sitcom [“Brothers” on Fox], and it was just a very interesting conversation. A year or so later they hit me up and said, we want to have a conversation with you and your partner, Constance Schwartz, and see if we can put our companies together and do a documentary talking about athletes and players and life after the game of football and the things they go through and how they adjust and how some adjust better than others and find their own way.
“You’re born into your profession, what you do, and then when that’s over, you have to figure out a way to be born into something else to fill that void because you can retire but it’s very hard to sit at home. Now some guys are content with doing less, but you have to find your place in life…
And find themselves they did. So many times we are bombarded with stories about athletes losing their fortune, becoming recluses and even getting involved in crime once their careers are over. The beauty of Happiness is that not only does it show that there can be a life–a rich one, at that after sports, but there can be a life after any career and any relationship is over. The film deals with the emotional toll the brain takes after something that was once so connected to us suddenly vanishes and how to rebound from the loss.
In the case of Brett Favre, who had a much publicized and controversial end to his illustrious career, after years of searching he feels he has found his ‘happiness’. Favre currently resides back home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and is a man of the people, his happiness comes in the form of giving back to those who view him as a hero.
For former Jets fan favorite, Wayne Chrebett the end of his career came with no warnings, no Super Bowl glory to look back on and no speeches given. His career end comes to him in blackened out glimpses due to a severe concussion from which he still undergoes brain scannings years later. Chrebet was approached by Strahan to do the film, and is featured along with his wife, Amy, who stuck by his side despite the hardships which followed after his career ended. The journey endured isn’t a solo task, Amy Chrebet explained in-depth after the screening what life was like following the end of her husband’s football career and how the wise words of other ex-player wives gave her strength. Chrebet now has carved out a new career for himself working in the stock market in Manhattan.
State of Play brings HBO’s renown documentary style and takes it to the edge from a sports perspective, offering a no-holds-barred glimpse into a variety of themes and subject matter. This is definitely a contrast to some of the historical documentary pieces aired, but its all for a good reason. HBO Sports president Ken Hershman remarked:
“It’s not meant to replace the larger format historical docs. We’re going to continue to do those. But we’re trying to find a way to elevate the conversation in sports, do something that’s not the typical, rapid-fire, lot of different opinions and then cut to whatever clip you’re going to cut to.
“So these are kind of more thoughtful and contemporary but yet the conversation is at a very high level. It’s interesting. And hopefully the fans respond to it. They’re not meant to be these big, grand documentaries. These are important figures in sports talking about their lives, but talking about it in ways that most places don’t have the time, don’t have the energy to spend to learn and to explore.
“Pete’s been great at extracting what we all want to know in a place that’s different and unique.”
Make sure to tune in for the return of State of Play coming Tuesday Nov 18 at 10pm EST, and join the conversation #StateOfPlay