SPORTS

Film explores MSU's role in desegregating college football

Joe Rexrode
Detroit Free Press
Maya Washington said she’s still about $100,000 short of completing the project. She is seeking donations on the film’s website, throughthebanksoftheredcedar.com.

EAST LANSING – Maya Washington knew her father was a football star, knew he played at Michigan State in the 1960s, knew he came from segregated Texas.

The youngest daughter of Gene Washington knew Bubba Smith, too, but it wasn't until after Smith's 2011 death that she really understood the connection — and lasting importance — of all those things. She got to see her father interact with his former MSU teammates at Smith's memorial service, and among the many things she learned was that Smith convinced coach Duffy Daugherty to recruit her dad as part of MSU's 1963 class.

"It was a surreal moment, like, 'Wow, my life was completely changed by this little detail,' " Maya Washington said. "I felt immense grief that I didn't get to thank Bubba for what he did for my dad."

She has been working on doing that ever since, and one whale of a thank-you note is near completion. Maya, a filmmaker and actress whose work includes the award-winning "White Space," about a deaf poet, is in the post-production stage of a documentary called "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar."

It's about her father and Michigan State in the 1960s; the role Daugherty's courage and his African-American players' grace played in desegregating college football; the parallel story of MSU football rising again under Mark Dantonio; and a father-daughter relationship that has strengthened in three years of tireless work on the film.

"She's very passionate and very determined about this project, and I'm very proud of her for making this, because I never would have thought to do something like this," said Gene Washington, a College Football Hall of Famer who starred at receiver on MSU's championship teams of 1965-66, then joined teammates Smith, Clinton Jones and George Webster in occupying four of the top eight picks of the 1967 NFL draft.

"It has brought us together in a way that never would have happened if this project didn't exist," Maya Washington said of her father. "It's been an amazing blessing. I have a deeper connection to my dad and also to Michigan State."

Filmmaker Maya Washington, daughter of MSU standout Gene Washington, is working on the documentary “Through the Banks of the Red Cedar” about her dad and MSU football in the 1960s. She said the film is a thank-you to another Spartan great, Bubba Smith.

She attended USC, getting a degree in theater before earning her master's degree in creative writing from Hamline University. All three of Gene Washington's daughters have followed him in earning graduate degrees, in fact, and their opportunities were enhanced by his eight years in the NFL and 43 years with 3M Co., where he developed a nationally renowned diversity hiring program.

All this from a kid in LaPorte, Texas, who was the first in his family to attend college. Major college football was not an option in his region of the country at the time. Smith, a friend and star for a rival school, assured Daugherty that Washington was worth the scholarship.

"This is a story worth telling," Gene Washington said.

And it's a fitting time to tell it. This fall will mark the 50th anniversary of MSU's 1965 national title. "Through the Banks of the Red Cedar" is one of two documentaries devoted to those Spartans, joining "Men of Sparta," a project spearheaded by then-MSU fullback Bob Apisa.

Both still need funding and are asking for help on their respective websites (throughthebanksoftheredcedar.com and menofsparta.com). Maya Washington said she's still about $100,000 short of completing the project — in part because Big Ten archival footage is going for $4,500 a minute these days.

"Through the Banks of the Red Cedar" will end up about 70 to 90 minutes long, Maya Washington said, and she has talked with the Big Ten Network and WKAR so far about distribution.

The total cost will be about $350,000, and she has been able to get $127,000 in grants. She's also put in about $40,000 of her own money, illustrating her desire to see that "Michigan State gets its due" for its place in history.

The driving passion, though, is much more personal than that.

"I have really just given up my life. That's how much I believe in this," said Maya Washington, who splits time between Minneapolis and Los Angeles. "These are things you do when you really believe in something.

"I think about Bubba when I get discouraged or things get hard. This is my thank you to him. We're gonna get this thing done, and it's gonna be awesome."

Contact Joe Rexrode: jrexrode@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @joerexrode. Check out his MSU blog at freep.com/heyjoe.