Isla Romilly Maller, you perfect little thing.
You hold our hearts in your tiny palms — our past, our present and our future, all at once.
Our world isn’t perfect, but if we’re lucky, you’ll get it a little closer.
Thank you for being ours. You’re more than we could have ever hoped for.
Your love will be Safe with me.
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD – CO-WINNER 🏆
Pros and Cons – Directed by Sam Maller
Presented to documentaries that, through bold storytelling and cinematic craft, honor civil rights struggles, amplify marginalized voices, and spark dialogue around justice and equity in sports and beyond.
Jordan Love, today on @playerstribune . Exploring losing his father at 14, nearly quitting football, then rising to become everything his father dreamed he could be:
Even if the whole stadium was against me, I still had somebody up there who had my back.
My mom. Always.
Rocking her shades. Hands between her legs. Not saying a word. Just praying I don’t get hurt.
Same as it’s always been, since I was 14 years old.
That was the year that I lost my best friend in the world — my dad.
My world was turned upside down. I wanted to quit football. Honestly, I kind of wanted to give up on everything. I was just a lost kid. So my mom made this deal with me.
“If you keep playing football, you know I’ll always be there for you.”
Simple as that.
“No matter what. Even if you’re just holding a clipboard. You’ll always know that somebody is in the stands cheering for you.”
So I ran out there for the second half at Arrowhead with 75,000 people booing the hell out of me, and one person way up there saying to herself, “Come on, Jordan. You need to play better. I love you, but you really need to play better.”
I know he would’ve wanted it that way.
…
I can honestly say before July 13, 2013, I had pretty much the perfect upbringing. But that’s the crazy thing about life. You think you got all the time in the world. You think nothing is ever going to change.
And then it changes.
— read @jordan3love ’s story on @playerstribune 🫶
Shoutout to the greatest team there is on this @seanpatrickconboy@jennaklein_@taylorbaucom@khklann@ramonra@jacksonkrule@mbelteky@analaurafms@ronikastone to name a few
PROS AND CONS.
There’s basketball. Then there’s life.
This project means everything to me and I’m so grateful to NBA’s Vegas Summer League for giving @playerstribune the opportunity to share our first preview this weekend.
Excited to get back to work, build some momentum and share @keyondooling and his family’s story far and wide.
None of this happens without you @chrisabernard@natoshasd@taylorbaucom@khklann@bextras_ #UlissesNeto @fbzayd@analaurafms and so many more. 🫶
Been busy on the mountain the last couple of weeks! Looking forward to a little break soon… prepare yourselves for a beach photo or two 🥴. Until then, here are some more shots from NYC w/ @playerstribune .🫶
📷: @sam.maller
📍The Big 🍎… Setting a new personal record for consecutive days without wearing a race suit. 🙃 NYC was quick, but productive, as always—thank you🙏🏻
📷: @sam.maller // @playerstribune
