The Players Tribune turning Vernon Turner’s life story into movie

If you’ve dreamed of the day when Derek Jeter might stand on the Dolby Theatre stage and accept an Academy Award, that day might yet happen.

Jeter’s media company The Players Tribune is expanding from the online page to the cinema screen as they’ve announced plans to turn former NFL player Vernon Turner’s TPT article “Letter To My Younger Self” into a feature film.

The article touched on Turner’s upbringing where he witnessed his mother’s drug use and how that affected him. His mother eventually died while he was in high school. He went on to play college football for Division II school Carson-Newman College and parlay that into an NFL career that included stints with the Buffalo Bills, L.A. Rams, Detroit Lions, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers before ending his career in NFL Europe.

It’s the first foray into film for Jeter’s company. Brett Gursky, a consultant on HBO’s Hello Ladies, and producer Josh Surkin, both of indie production company Magic Hour, are partnering with TPT. The Players Tribune is repped by CAA and the agency brokered the deal between the two companies.

One could consider this the first step in turning The Players Tribune into a more-rounded media company than just an online entity. With rumors of an IPO floating in the breeze back in January, there’s actually meat on the bones now, at least potentially. TPT might be able to leverage relationships with more athletes like Turner, and even more high-profile ones, and gain a foothold in the sports bio movie market. Who knows, perhaps Captain: The Derek Jeter Story isn’t all that far off now.

In the meantime, we’re sure he’ll be happy to take that producer credit. Besides, it’s the producers who get to go up and receive the awards.

[THR]