'Boys in Blue' focuses on North Minneapolis football relationships, MPD officer coaches

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis North High School football coach Charles Adams says he's a boy in blue in more ways than one.

"Not only being a former police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, I was a former Polar football player as well, so was my dad, so this documentary is us," said Adams.

So he says it's appropriate the new docu-series on Showtime about the football team he coaches is named "Boys In Blue".

The four-part series follows the challenges his players faced in the 2021 season, ranging from the aftermath of the death of George Floyd to gun violence in their community.

"A lot of the situations they go through is just their everyday life. I guess it does spotlight the things they have to go through that kids in other communities don't have to," said Adams.

Sophomore quarterback Deshaun Hill is a prominent player in the series and one of the most heartbreaking moments of the show is when his mother talks about her greatest fear. 

"The hardest part to me is him walking to the bus stop, catching the bus for school because I don't know if it's the last time I'll see him," said Tuesday Sheppard in the first episode.

Months later, ‘D-Hill’ as he was called was shot and killed while walking to a bus stop.

"That was probably one of the toughest parts to see him and his family just being a kid and you knowing the ending of the story," said Adams.

Adams says the show's title is a nod to both the color of the Polars uniforms and the former and current Minneapolis Police officers who coach the team, and he believes the relationships between the two shown in the series offer a different perspective on the role police can play in their community.

"I want it to be a focal piece of these football players and them being able to successful coming out of this community with the positive relationships being built with police officers and the players that play," said Adams.