Prime Video Sports has greenlit a feature-length documentary about NFL star wide receiver DeSean Jackson, the former Philadelphia Eagles great and three-time Pro Bowler who announced his retirement from the league earlier this week.
The untitled documentary is based around footage that DeSean Jackson’s brother, Byron Jackson, began filming 30 years ago. “It started as an attempt to reconnect with his father, but turned into the project of a lifetime — following DeSean’s unexpected rise from nine-year-old Pop Warner prodigy to one of the best wide receivers in NFL history,” a press release describing the film explains.
The project features thousands of hours of intimate home video which, the release notes, “reveals a profoundly complex relationship between two brothers, their father and what it really means to be family, all while under the immense pressure to play football at the highest level.”
The announcement of the new film follows the recent success of two Prime Video Sports’ football-themed documentaries — “Kelce,” about Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce; and “Bye Bye Barry,” about hall of fame running back Barry Sanders. Both documentaries launched during this season of “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video and set viewership records on the streamer.
DeSean Jackson’s documentary — developed under the working title “Go Deep,” with an official title yet to be announced — is directed by Mandon Lovett. The film is produced by Cover Story’s Scott Kaplan and Emmet McDermott, with Hyperobject Industries’ Adam McKay and Todd Schulman, as well as Byron Jackson and DeSean Jackson, as executive producers.
Jackson, who played college football for the California Golden Bears, was a second-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2008, playing six seasons with the Eagles and earning three trips to the Pro Bowl. Jackson’s most famous play came in December 2010, dubbed “The Miracle at the New Meadowlands,” when he returned a punt 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown with no time left to cap a major comeback over the division rival New York Giants.
After his release from Philadelphia in 2014, Jackson played for Washington, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Baltimore. After 15 seasons, Jackson will officially retire from the NFL on Sunday, signing a one-day contract with the Eagles and serving as an honorary team captain during their game against the San Francisco 49ers.
