Cocaine Quarterback, like the name implies, is a documentary miniseries about the story of Owen Hanson. Once a college football champion, he eventually fell into crime, smuggling drugs for a notorious, dangerous cartel. This documentary even features Owen Hanson, telling some of his story from the confines of jail. Starting his life in Redondo Beach California, he came from a blue-collar family, with a father working his ass off to try to make ends meet, he eventually starts training in volleyball to keep his mind off his sister and mother, after she and his father divorced.
After his successful volleyball career, he gets a letter from USC, telling him they want him to attend. After being told he’s not good enough for the volleyball program, under advice of a jacked dude, he and his friend “Spanky” go to Tijuana Mexico, to a veterinarian, and get pills and vials of steroids to get his vertical jump and arm strength. After avoiding detection by border patrol, it started that rush. He was approached by a coach, who asked if he’d like to be on the Football team, making it, despite never playing Football, and after some partying, some success, and meeting a man named Tank, he would eventually start supplying pain relief medicine to his teammates for profit.
After destroying the Oklahoma Sooners 55-19, and realizing that only his friends are leaving college to become millionaire pro-athletes, he starts OwenSell.com to sell, whatever. After the market crash in 2008, he started a sports betting website, called BetODog.com, as a bookie, with his enforcer OG Kobra. After his success, he (under instruction from an encrypted phone he receives) picks up a million dollars with Tank, and delivers it to receive $100,000, and is then asked to move cocaine in Australia by the lieutenant cartel member. After a series of successful deliveries of cocaine for the cartel, he is told that it’s his job to get the money out of Australia, and that it’s what he’s getting paid for. Eventually, he meets Robin Hood 702, to help try and get the money out of Australia, which would turn out to be his biggest mistake.
So far, this documentary is pretty interesting. You don’t have to be a sports fan to like this (there’s not a huge amount of sports talk, but it involves a former football player). It’s crazy seeing this guy go from volleyball to football to bookie, to moving cocaine for the cartel. It also has some mild humor and decent editing work, as well as some people you wouldn’t expect (like Lou Ferrigno Jr.) talking about this.
Rating 7.6/10