On Wednesday, June 15, 2022 The HistoryMakers, the National Football League, and NFL Films announced a partnership. In addition to two years of funding, the NFL will also provide The HistoryMakers with hundreds of hours of footage from interviews with NFL African American legends from past and present, including dozens of Pro Football Hall of Fame players. They will also donate their production services to interview prominent African-American football players for inclusion to The HistoryMakers archives, which are housed permanently at the Library of Congress.
"We feel a deep debt of gratitude to the NFL and NFL Films for this incredible gift as this level of commitment will help move The HistoryMakers sports initiative forward in ways that we need and previously could not have imagined," says Julieanna L. Richardson, Founder & President of The HistoryMakers. "Our goal since our inception has always been to document the African-American experience across a variety of disciplines and this commitment will ensure that the stories of African American football legends and African-Americans who have played a critical role in NFL history will now become part of this nation's patrimony."
"We are thrilled to team up with The HistoryMakers and contribute to their rich video archives of African-American history" said Ross Ketover, Senior Executive of NFL Films. "This will truly be a mutually beneficial relationship as our NFL Films interviews will be seen by a whole new audience, while The HistoryMakers will be able to add much needed history to its national archives to educate millions for years to come."
Julieanna Richardson, Project Director Courtney Shareef, Interviewer Larry Crowe, and videographer Matthew Hickey visited NFL Films headquarters on Friday, September 9, 2022. In addition to participating in a tour of the facility led by Amaury Peralta Munoz, The HistoryMakers team also met with Ketover; Vice Presidents Maryann Wimberley and Kelly Visealtar; Producers Terrell Riley, Kris Wilson, and Jessica Brody; and Project Manager Amy Falkow. Together, The HistoryMakers and NFL Films developed a strategy for extending interview requests and coordinating interviews logistics over the course of the next few years.
