Late 2019 release anticipated
By Erik Buchinger
Roughly 200 people showed up to Main Street Thursday, Oct. 11 for the filming of an upcoming Clintonville sports documentary in production.
The documentary will focus on the stories of former players and coaches in Clintonville athletics when the Truckers were a powerhouse sports program in the state.
Clintonville native Michael Jurkovac is producing the film. He is the son of Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer Chet Jurkovac, who coached Truckers football from 1967-1995.
How the project started
Jurkovac said the idea to create a documentary on Clintonville sports stemmed from a discussion two months ago between him and will.i.am of the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas.
Jurkovac is currently making a documentary on The Black Eyed Peas, and will.i.am. suggested a documentary should be focused on him.
“I said, ‘No, I’m doing a doc on you, and if you were going to do that, it would have to be about my dad,’” Jurkovac said.
When Clintonville resident and former Trucker football standout Gerry O’Connor put together a reunion of the 1978 state championship team, Jurkovac jumped at the opportunity.
“I thought if we’re going to do it, this would be the time,” Jurkovac said. “Destiny lined up, and it was too good not to put this thing into film.”
Jurkovac is working alongside director Phil Tuckett, who won 30 Emmy Awards for NFL Films.
“When he was telling me about the story, he said, ‘While you’re here, why don’t you bring a crew over and film these guys at the reunion,’” Tuckett said. “They were such vivid characters, these guys. Every one of them had very interesting things to say. Their lives were so diverse and still interconnected because of that shared experience.”
After talking with some of the players from that team, Tuckett realized there could be something special in telling their stories.
“At that point, we started talking about a full-length documentary film about the Clintonville Truckers, about how they mounted that juggernaut in the ’70s,” Tuckett said. “I think it’s ‘Friday Night Lights’ with a different slant. Nobody talks about Wisconsin high school football. Here’s this little farm town in Wisconsin that devotes itself to these Friday night football games in small communities.”
Trucker football memories
Growing up in Clintonville, Jurkovac recalled what it was like to watch the Truckers.
“What I remember from those teams is they would hardly ever lose,” Jurkovac said. “When I grew up, you dreamed of playing for the Truckers and beating teams like Pulaski, De Pe Pere, West De Pere, Ashwaubenon and all those teams. When you grew up, you were playing baseball, football, basketball all year round and you wanted to play for the Truckers. All those teams were great.
“Everybody in the state of Wisconsin, if they heard you were from Clintonville, people would say, ‘Wow, what amazing teams they had.’”
Filming in Clintonville
Jurkovac described the scene to Tuckett where the players would be on the bus, facing straight ahead with the Clintonville community filled on each side of Main Street cheering them on prior to a Friday night football game.
Tuckett said he was struck by this story and had to recreate the scene for the film.
“I think the superintendent [David Dyb] was amazing in helping pull all this together,” Jurkovac said. “You could really see the pride. I think 225 people came out in 40-degree weather. I think it was an amazing thing to do, and I look forward to see where it goes from here. Phil is one of the best who has ever done this.”
Tuckett said he got chills looking at the players on the bus and the fans cheering as the bus rolled by.
“I think everybody had a great time, and we got some sensational material that will be going in this feature-length documentary,” Tuckett said.
The day after shooting the scene, the present-day Truckers hit road and closed off their season with a 28-12 road win over Green Bay West for their first victory of the year.
“There’s no way to prove this, but maybe, just maybe, because the kids on that bus were portraying the champions of ’78, the next night they went out and won their last game of the season,” Tuckett said. It’s nice to consider possibly we had something to do with that by giving them that feeling for that great team. Now those kids are playing the part of those Clintonville Truckers of 1978. I loved that the team won their game the next night.”
Jurkovac said one of his hopes for the film is to have an impact Clintonville football in the future.
“Our goal is to tell that story 40 years later and try to have an impact on what’s happening with the team going forward,” Jurkovac said.
Tuckett said he was approached by five kids as the shooting of the bus scene was finishing up.
“They came over and one of the young men was the spokesman for this group,” Tuckett said. “He shook my hand and said, ‘Thank you for doing this because this is exactly the motivation we’re looking for. We’re on the freshman football team, and we’re going to recapture the glory. Being here today, I think that can happen. I am convinced we have a legacy to live up to and we’re going to do it.’
“I wish there was a camera on because it warmed my heart. I got a little tear in my eye because I saw myself in their eyes. The game of football was everything good in life, so I turned away and a couple tears came down my cheeks.”
Filmmakers anticipate 2019 release
Tuckett said it will take another six months to gather all the material for the 90-minute documentary.
It should be ready by next fall to hopefully be played on platforms such as ESPN, Netflix or Amazon Prime.
“I think the more we do this and [the] more Mike keeps laying out ideas with interviews to do and places to document the story, the better chance this has to be a classic coming-of-age football story,” Tuckett said. “I’ve worked at NFL Films for 38 years, so I know what works in documentary format, and I think this has a great chance to be an award-winning film. Mike and I have worked together enough that we can see what the potential of this is. We’re not going to fail to deliver a great film. I’m positive of that.”