Videos: :30 Promo | :90 Trailer

• SEC Storied Film on Former Florida Football Standout Carlos Alvarez
• Directed and Produced by Filmmakers Gaspar González and Castor Fernandez

The latest edition in the ESPN Films’ SEC Storied collection, The All-American Cuban Comet, will focus on Florida’s all-time receiving yards leader, Carlos Alvarez. The film will premiere on SEC Network on Tuesday, October 27, at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Alvarez is a Cuban immigrant who assimilated into what was, in the 1960s, an anti-Cuban American culture, by playing, and excelling at, football—what he considered “the most American sport I could think of.”  At the University of Florida, Alvarez earned All-American honors as a sophomore wide receiver in 1969 as he and quarterback John Reaves helped lead the pass-happy Gators to a 9-1-1 season, capped by a Gator Bowl victory over Tennessee. Over the course of three varsity seasons, Alvarez totaled 172 catches for 2,563 yards and 19 touchdowns. Also during his time in Gainesville, Alvarez participated in anti-Vietnam War protests, actively supported the integration of Florida’s football team and was a founding member of one of the country’s first student-athlete unions. In 2011, Alvarez became the first foreign-born Hispanic-American to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Decorated Filmmakers Gaspar González and Castor Fernandez directed and produced the film.

• Gaspar González has produced and directed documentary programming for PBS, the BBC, ESPN and TV One, among others. His credits include national PBS release Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami, the Grantland documentary short Gay Talese’s Address Book and the ESPN 30 for 30 short The Guerrilla Fighter.
• Castor Fernandez has directed and produced documentary programming for ESPN, ESPN Deportes, Grantland, Netflix and NBC Sports, as well as developing programming for Facebook, History Channel, Travel Channel, A&E and Discovery Channel. He has also produced television content for HGTV, Bravo and Lifetime.

“One of the things that was most exciting to us about Carlos’s story was that the fights he waged 50 years ago are completely relevant to the current moment,” González said. “Carlos understood the connection between civil rights and athletes’ rights. If you think of that generation of the 1960s, the athletes who fused sports with social consciousness, Carlos Alvarez is right there. He deserves to be remembered for that, in addition to being one of the great receivers in college football history.”

An advance press screener is available upon request. Please contact Kimberly Elchlepp at [email protected].

About SEC Storied
ESPN Films launched the SEC Storied documentary series in September 2011, presenting fans the opportunity to explore the rich athletic history of the Southeastern Conference. From extraordinary athletes and coaches to defining games and moments, the series has featured films that focus on the SEC’s recent and more distant past, including one of the most-viewed documentaries in ESPN history, “The Book of Manning.” In 2015, SEC Storied received its first two Sports Emmy nominations for both “Outstanding Sports Documentary” and “Outstanding Music Composition/Direction/Lyrics” with the film “It’s Time: The Story of Brad Gaines and Chucky Mullins.”

About SEC Network
The Southeastern Conference and ESPN launched SEC Network on August 14, 2014. The network televises hundreds of games across the SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming includes in-depth analysis and storytelling in studio shows such as SEC Nation, Thinking Out Loud and Rally Cap, daily news and information with SEC Now, original content such as TrueSouth, SEC Storied and SEC Inside, and more. Hundreds of additional live events are available for streaming exclusively on SEC Network’s digital companion, SEC Network+, via the ESPN App and SECNetwork.com. The network is also available in more than 135 countries throughout Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia via ESPN Player, ESPN’s sports streaming service in the region.