Oscar-winning Coda actor Troy Kotsur has signed on to star in and executive produce a sports drama series for Disney+ that will tell the true story of the 2021 Cubs Football team. The actor will play the coach of the team from the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The currently untitled show will chronicle how even though the school played mostly hearing teams, the Cubs still had an undefeated season and earned a spot in the State Championship game for the first time in its history. The drama will also show the challenges and successes the students and their teachers, and families faced and achieved in their football league.
To celebrate the team’s success, its captains were able to stand on the field during the coin flip at Super Bowl LVI this past February.
ABC Signature and Disney Branded Television are developing the series. The studio will partner with the school and the California Department of Education to tell the story of the team’s historical undefeated season. The show’s writing and production team, both in front of and behind the cameras, will include artists from the Deaf community.
Acclaimed sports drama veteran writer Ron Shelton, who scribed and directed Bull Durham, is attached to direct the drama’s pilot. He’ll also executive produce and pen the series’ pilot episode with Ben Shelton (Candy Jar).
Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin (Coda) will also executive produce the drama with Kevin Falls (The West Wing), who will also serve as the project’s s showrunner.
Additional executive producers who will work on the sports series include Bert Salke (Alaska); Gary Foster (Sleepless In Seattle); Russ Krasnoff (Community); Rainn Wilson (The Office); Jack Jason; Bill Horberg (The Queen’s Gambit) and Christina Lurie (Persuasion). John Maucere (No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie), an alumnus of California School for the Deaf, Riverside, will consult and co-produce the show.