‘Dead Fish’ stirs Bradshaw

NEW ORLEANS – They were bitter rivals until Hurricane Katrina turned them into teammates.

The story of 20 high school football players forced to play for the same team after Katrina blew them from their hometowns drew laughter and tears from Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.

“I cried, and I laughed. Boy did I laugh,” Bradshaw said of the film footage of the players – from 16 schools – who land at East St. John High School in Reserve, roughly 30 miles west of New Orleans.

Bradshaw, a sportscaster and Louisiana native, said he couldn’t resist narrating the footage-turned-documentary, “Walking on Dead Fish.”

Director Franklin Martin said the title came from a scene in which a player walks through his flood-damaged neighborhood, his feet crunching on dead fish washed onto sidewalks and lawns by Katrina’s tidal surge.

The storm struck the Gulf coast Aug. 29, 2005. Many neighborhoods have yet to return three years later.

“I got so choked up and heartbroken,” said Bradshaw.

The film, which documents the players’ 2005-06 season, is being released in New Orleans today and in select theaters nationwide Oct. 3.