In 1951, future Pro Football Hall of Famers Gino Marchetti, Bob St. Clair and Ollie Matson powered the University of San Francisco Dons to a 9–0 record.

The Dons' stand against racism is recognized by contemporary African-American studies scholars Dr. Harry Edwards and Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech writer, Dr. Clarence Benjamin Jones, as evidence of sports acting as an engine for social justice in America.

The surviving members of the 1951 Dons team who appear on camera include Bob St. Clair, Ralph Thomas (American football), Dick Columbini and Bill Henneberry.

Mathis has personal ties to the story, as he was a close friend of Ollie Matson while a track athlete at San Francisco's Washington High.

The film displays the team's solidarity as they support two of their own, forgoing an opportunity to play in a bowl game and the monetary value of a championship.