Former Bartow, FSU standout Freddie Stevenson's trials become new documentary triumph

LAKELAND — Freddie Stevenson relates, early in his book "Trials To Triumph," a night when he, his mom and his four siblings hadn't eaten all day. After walking to a McDonald's in Lakeland, his mom bought a cheeseburger — after borrowing a nickel because she only had one dollar — and divided it between her five children. Her children quickly noticed she wasn't eating and offered their piece back to  her.

It was a low point in Stevenson's childhood when his family faced overwhelming poverty and was sometimes homeless after his father went to jail for drug trafficking, a path he nearly went down when his hoped-for NFL career failed to materialize.

Stevenson, a Bartow High graduate who went on to play football at Florida State, and his family persevered through tough times. He tells his story in a book that was published in 2021. Sales of the book started off slow before picking up.

Stevenson's book: Fuoco: Bartow's Freddie Stevenson relates his own trials and triumphs in new book

More on Stevenson's story: Bartow's Freddie Stevenson finding life after football

Then something unexpected happened. The book caught the attention of Hollywood. Talks with Netflix went nowhere. But Greg Romano of Warner Bros. became interested in turning it into a documentary for safirenetwork, a new streaming platform.

And now, after nearly a year of production, "Trials to Triumph The Documentary" will premier on Thursday at Polk Theatre in Lakeland.

"We had him on one of our podcasts and told a story, and it was pretty incredible on how he basically started from the bottom, living in poverty and where he ended up today," Romano said.

Motivational speaker Tony Gaskins among those in documentary

The documentary goes beyond Stevenson's story, although it is the anchor. There will be special guests who will tell their stories, including Maurice Bernard of General Hospital, former NFL player Delvin Breaux, former Seminole Ryan Green and Polk County native Tony Gaskins, who attended Auburndale High School then All Saints Academy where he starred in football and basketball. Today, Gaskins is a renowned motivational speaker.

While Stevenson tells his story, viewers will also hear from his father, who turned his life around while in jail and is now a pastor, and his mother.

"The biggest thing is people hearing from my family," Stevenson said. "The thing that helped my story take off is the struggle when I was homeless. For people to hear from my mother and father, who was in prison but has turned his life around. To be able to come back and tell his story with those people, it's going to be special. I truly believe this film is going to change the world."

Stevenson said that hearing the others tell their story alongside his will give viewers something different, something they can relate to.

Bernard, despite his success, had struggles with mental health and suicide.

Green is still battling to overcome his trials.

"He's trying to find his way," Stevenson said. "He had so much adversity like family members dying, a lot of different things that aren't going in his favor. He feels worthless in this world because things didn't go right for him. Right now, it's just a tough time, but I think he's starting to see that things are starting to get better. But ultimately it's about staying persistent with the journey."

That's a theme Stevenson keeps returning to when telling his story.

"After football, that was one of my battles," he said. "That's why I'm able to resonate with what he's going through. Yeah, I was able to figure it out faster, but not everybody figures it out that fast. So me being able to use my journey, my process to help people out like him, I can see it; you just have to stay persistent. That's the only thing that got me to this point ... was staying persistent even when I didn't think things were moving my way."

Stevenson showed persistence with the book. Initially, there wasn't much movement. Then the COVID pandemic hit, and sales picked up.

"I just continued to push it even when times got hard," said Stevenson, whose other projects include starting a clothing line. "I remember a moment where I was getting discouraged and thinking about my next project and what I wanted to do next, and somebody reached out to me."

That person didn't know Stevenson. He told Stevenson he was planning to commit suicide. Then he read Stevenson's book.

" 'I just lost my job and can't support my family, everybody's turning on me, my family has given up on me, my family is breaking apart,' " Stevenson recalled the man telling him. " 'Your book saved my life.' That was the moment that kept me thinking I have to keep going.

"I have to keep telling my story because there are people out there who are battling. Just to be able to hear hundreds of stories throughout the process, it's life changing. I just truly believe that when people hear these stories combined together, it's going to impact the world."

Athletes might benefit from the book, documentary

Stevenson believes that his book and the documentary can be especially helpful to athletes.

"It's a tough reality that a lot athletes have to face," Stevenson said. "You don't know it at the time, but when everything is going well, you don't think about the negative with this person. You're just enjoying the journey. But when things start going wrong and things catch you off guard, you think I never thought this person would do this. It's just the simple reality that everyone around you, not all their intentions are genuine. A lot of them come with hidden agendas. A lot of athletes can benefit from this message."

The documentary is about 90 minutes long. There is a narrator setting the scene then letting Stevenson and the others tell their stories.

They started filming the project in March and wrapped up over the summer. Initial meetings on the project began last November, and the final product was continually tweaked. Romano said a final scene was put in on Friday.

Right now, the documentary is just streaming for $21.99.

"You gain access to it, but it will be converted in a few months to an NFT," Romano said. "NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a new technology with Web3, which allows you to unlock the content using digital wallets,  basically cryptocurrency. And with that, the person now owns part of the film, but there's also extra stuff that comes along with it like artwork and behind the scenes footage. There'll be perks like meet and greet with the talent. That's all coming in the future.

"Plus, we're going to have tons of docuseries, which have new stories that will add along to the brand. We have motivational speaker George White. He got big on social media. He'll be one of the stories we next produce and put out as a docuseries under the Trial to Triumphs brand."

It was this business model that proved attractive when Stevenson met with Romano and his partners.

"The biggest thing with this was giving the power back to these people and allowing them to tell their stories and ultimately make money from their stories, instead of getting bamboozled and taken advantage of," Stevenson said. "That's ultimately where we're at."

Roy Fuoco can be reached at roy.fuoco@theledger.com or at 863-802-7526. Follow him on Twitter: @RoyFuoco. 

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Freddie Stevenson doc 'Trials to Triumph' to premiere in Lakeland