Breakdown: A Season of Gang Warfare, High School Football, and the Coach Who Policed the Streets

Parents like me who stand around soccer fields in affluent communities wondering if little Tommy is under too much stress because he has so many after-school activities have no idea what the kids in Chelsea, Massachusetts, have had to deal with. Hypothetical Tommy has soccer, piano, and the Boy Scouts, but the real-life Danny Cortez had to step over a dead body to get into his home. Mario Hernandez crawled on the floor of his apartment for a week in fear of gunshots coming through the window. This kid's dad is in jail. That kid's mom is on drugs. That's Chelsea. … I don't know why the kids opened up so much to me about their personal lives, but they did. These troubled teens were intelligent, insightful, and honest. They were good kids in a bad situation. And their-Stories are often shocking and tragic, yet surprisingly hopeful. As it turns out, their futures are even more hopeful than their coach's.