Crimson Bears set for the spotlight on Super Bowl Sunday
- Jasz Garrett
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
Retired sportswriter Peter King examines the impact of football across the United States in newly released documentary
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
There are more than 15,000 11-man high school football programs in the country, but only one traditional team was featured in the documentary “Football in America with Peter King”: the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears.
“So to be that one that was chosen, that’s kind of like winning the lottery,” said head coach Rich Sjoroos.
The documentary segment will air during the NBC Super Bowl LX pregame coverage, sometime between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Alaska time. Sjoroos said he didn’t have the exact time the documentary would air as of Thursday, which is why the team isn’t gathering for a watch party during their off-season to celebrate. Plus, many of the players are participating in other sports. Sjoroos said the team may watch it together during a team dinner later on.
He said the coverage NBC is giving high school level programs around the country on a Super Bowl Sunday is something he has never seen before.
“From a whole countrywide perspective, it was just neat to see just the diversity in football all through different levels in different pockets of the country,” he said. “Not all football is big-time programs with tons of players and in large communities and things like that. I think it was kind of neat to show that there’s other layers to it and just very impressed that NBC had the vision to put something together like that.”
The documentary also includes a nine-man program, a small college, a six-man team, and a girls’ flag-football team. Sjoroos said retired sportswriter and broadcaster Peter King had originally mentioned going to Hawaii, but chose Alaska for the more “rugged feel.”
And that’s just what King got when he covered Juneau’s win over Dimond High School in September, maybe even more so than he expected. Sjoroos said King didn’t have the rain gear required for Southeast Alaska and the community helped him stay dry during a torrential downpour.
“The comment he made was that it was very rough, rough weather, but it was real,” Sjoroos said. “And that’s what was pretty awesome about coming to Alaska to experience.”
The documentary highlights how Juneau is unique in another way. The coach discusses how each Juneau football player raises $2,400 to defray travel costs for road games.
“We have to raise so much money to play football,” Sjoroos said. “In turn though, you get super-dedicated players and families.”
Senior Noah Ault was interviewed to represent the Juneau program and he is on the documentary’s cover photo. In the film, Ault talks about how football helped him make friends. He is an aspiring athletic trainer.
“I just fell in love with the sport and it just makes me happy every single day,” Ault told King in the documentary segment.
Ault is graduating this year and is playing basketball right now, Sjoroos said. The coach said he has been playing football for a long time and it was great to see him recognized.
Sjoroos said he still stays in contact with King, who covered the NFL extensively, including a 29-year stint at Sports Illustrated. King retired from his 44-year career in 2024. Sjoroos said Juneau’s football program is approaching its 40-year anniversary and the documentary is another piece to add to the history books.
“Football in America with Peter King” is currently available to watch on YouTube and the NBC Sports website. It will be on the big screen Sunday before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots battle.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
