New documentary about football star Gene Washington to start airing on PBS this month

Growing up, Maya Washington didn’t see her father as the world knew him to be — Michigan State University and Minnesota Viking football legend, Gene Washington — she knew him as Dad. Based on Maya’s award-winning documentary, THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDAR: My Father and the Team That Changed the Game follows her journey of uncovering just how difficult Gene’s youth in segregated Texas was, and his unorthodox rise to college football stardom at MSU during the height of the Civil Rights movement. She tells us about the book and the documentary, which will start airing on PBS stations this month.