Film review: Episode 3 of Syracuse football’s ‘La Familia’

In case you missed it, Syracuse Orange football is joining the ranks of Netflix and Facebook in the #content game, creating a web series called ‘La Familia.” You can check out episode 1 and episode 2 recaps, and we’ve got your *spoiler* review below for episode 3!

If Tommy DeVito only owns black tank tops and Italian flag colored headbands, it would be so #BRAND. Gym, Touchdowns, Laundry, amirite?

Oh look! Our new header image for when we need to write a Get To Know about a new incoming player or recruit!

There’s a lot less narration in this episode (sometimes it helps, most of the time it doesn’t), but Ifeatu Melifonwu starts us off talking about the secondary and the school culture shift to becoming more of a football school. Later, he talks about his big brother and their relationship, who’s a defensive back for the New England Patriots.

We get to see our first bits of Mikel Jones as he talks about Britney Clarke, a member of the support staff who works primarily with freshmen to ensure a smooth academic transition to Syracuse. Clarke mentions the idea is for intense support in that first year, since there may be gaps that can only get worse during college.

This week’s gem comes from defensive end Kendall Coleman who continues to talk about the grind of a student-athlete lifestyle. He says that his release from all this is poetry, and that he’ll write whenever he has a chance and is inspired. He gets to share some, which, go you Kendall! We’ve found our favorite gentle giant.

The episode ends with Coleman sharing some really insightful ideas on the idea of a “football school” vs. a “basketball school,” and the importance of the fourth quarter to the team (aka why they hold up the 4 fingers going into the quarter every game). While this episode may not have had the action of the other two, it definitely helped give more insight into how the lives of these student-athletes actually look both on and off the field.