GRIDIRON GANG

Willie Weathers] with the whole team around us. He got some good hits in on
me, too.”
“That was mad fun,” recalls Yorker. “I mean, I got to go up against this guy who is
supposed be this tough wrestler. I just psyched my mind up and let it ride.”
Perhaps the most meaningful day on the set was the afternoon some of the real
characters from the “Gridiron Gang” documentary paid a visit to the production at
Camp Kilpatrick. Coaches Sean Porter (now a probation camp director in
Valencia, California) and Malcolm Moore (the former USC and NFL great who is
currently a deputy probation officer in Antelope Valley, California) got to meet
their acting counterparts. (Two players on the 1990 Mustangs team also came
face-to-face with the actors who portray them in the film).
“Malcolm is a very real dude who carries himself with a swagger,” says Xzibit.
“He has a great relationship with Sean Porter. He serves as the voice of reason,
the calmer viewpoint, though they both have the same goal in mind. Malcolm is a
special person and he still works as a probation officer with kids to this day.”
In addition, several former Camp Kilpatrick Mustang players worked as extras on
the film. One former inmate, Joseph Lucero, even landed a speaking role. Lucero
now works with gang members in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, his
personal effort to make a difference and hopefully help other boys avoid some of
the missteps he made in the past.
“We wanted to use true gang kids like Joey who had served time in this camp
before,” says Moritz. “Joey went from being an extra to having a featured part.
He had been in Camp Kilpatrick for some very serious crimes, but managed to
turn his life around. While we were making this movie, we made a conscious
effort to offer our help to some of the kids, and maybe, in our own small way, we
succeeded.”