"BS High" shows how easy it is to fall for a football scam – because it happened to me

"BS High," a scam documentary streaming on Max, should be required viewing for parents who want to protect their kids. 

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, "BS High" documents an unbelievable scandal that rocked the sports world. The huge Colorado-sized mountain of "BS" referenced in the title stands for Bishop Sycamore, a make believe high school football team and how they scammed their way into playing IMG Academy, one of the strongest programs in high school history, on ESPN. 

How does one sign up for a fake football? It is very easy, because embarrassingly, it happened to me. At 10 years old, Bo Jackson was idol. Every Sunday, my eyes remained glued to the TV screen watching his number 34 Raiders jersey shake defenders dizzy or run straight through them. I, just like all of my friends, wanted to do the same. So after the games ended, we'd blast to the streets  to play football, often tackle on concrete, because that made us extra tough. 

On one of those Sundays, an older dude, maybe 30, sat in his car watching us battle. And me or my cousin Angelo or our boy Heavy did a move that caused him to yell something like, "Man you have a sweet gift!" 

Now there's a couple of red flags that we should have noticed, like why is this stranger watching us – and who yells, "Sweet gift!" – but we were kids, and our dads were hit-and-miss, and we were probably just happy to be noticed. 

"Don't mind me young fellas," the dude said, climbing out of his small car. "I'm Coach Ben, I'm a football coach." 

At the time, coaches normally looked like frustrated old white guys with clipboards and frazzled hair. Coach Ben was a stout, thick-necked running back and seemed like the kind of guy that could help our football dream come true. 

"You got some moves, shorty, but you run into contact when you should cut?" Ben said. "What's your name?"

"Dwight but they call me Doc." 

"Doc?" Coach Ben laughed. "It's no doctors around this neighborhood, for sure. But there can be future college athletes." 

"I'm better than both of them!" Heavy screamed. He was right, Heavy was younger, faster and had more of a feel for the game. 

"The cost to join the team is $20 bucks," Coach Ben said. "Cash only, and meet me at Ellwood park, Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. sharp. Not a second later." 

I had cash on me, because everyone in my orbit was selling crack at the time. My cousin had just gave me $100 for running to the store and buying him five pairs of Nike's so $60 bucks for the three of us was easy. 

Our fathers could've asked Coach Ben for his rec center affiliations and proof that he had the skill set to train kids, but like I said, our fathers were hit-and-miss. 

Head Coach Roy Johnson, the main subject of "BS High," recruited just like Coach Ben did. He'd drive around from neighborhood to neighborhood looking for kids who loved football and he signed them right up. Many of the kids were in that weird space between college and high school, where they need a way to get exposure, finish a few credits and stay in shape just in case they gained acceptance to a university. Roy Johnson was that sweet spot, but there was only one problem. The guy couldn't coach. Roy Johnson could not coach. He had no credentials, no history, no vision, just dreams based on what he wanted to accomplish, not understanding of how to do it the right way. 

Me, Angelo and Heavy rolled up to Coach Ben's practice. There were about 40 kids there. He trained us hard, push-ups and sit-ups until we wanted to throw up. We also did laps, leg raises and ran up and down hills until we could barely walk. We mastered calisthenics but never touched a football. About two weeks of this hard-core training, Coach Ben said, "I'm passing around a form. Write you name and jersey size down. You'll get your equipment next week!" 

We were beyond excited. The idea of running into each other with shoulder pads seemed like a dream. We were taking a huge step toward our dream of playing like the pros . . . except next week never came. You see, all of the kids reported to practice that next week, and Ben never showed. We went back every day for almost a month before we realized that he ran off with our money and our dreams. I'm thankful that we were kids who lost $60 bucks, not like Roy Johnson's students who were on the cusp of adulthood and sacrificed much more. 

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Many of Roy Johnson's players were robbed of their chance to go to college and compete on the next level because of the embarrassing IMG game and the fact that the school didn't exist. Some players were hurt because his lack of experience had them in the wrong position, and a host of others are struggling to pay PPP loans he made them take out to fund his fake venture.

That is why this film is required viewing. We can't continue to allow fake sports people rob our kids of their money and dreams. 

"BS High" is streaming on Max.