Writer signed for Briscoe film

Screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard has signed on to create the script for a movie about the life of pro football quarterback Marlin Briscoe, a former Omahan.

Howard’s screen credits include the Oscar-nominated movie “Ali,” starring Will Smith, and “Remember the Titans,” starring Denzel Washington.

The film’s developers include West Omaha Films, whose founders are Omahans John Beasley, Terry Hanna and David Clark. They have been working on the project since 2006. Briscoe’s 2002 autobiography got Beasley’s attention as a possible movie.

West Omaha Films partnered with sports attorney Leigh Steinberg’s Los Angeles firm last summer to further develop the project.

Briscoe, the first black quarterback in the National Football League, grew up in Omaha and played football with Beasley at Omaha University (now the University of Nebraska at Omaha) in the 1960s. Beasley went on to a successful career as a movie, television and stage actor before founding the John Beasley Theater in Omaha.

Briscoe was starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 1968, then became an all-pro wide receiver. He played for both Miami Dolphins Super Bowl champion teams, including the 1973 team that went 17-0. After he retired, he lost his fortune and his home to a crack cocaine habit, doing jail time. He then kicked drugs and began tutoring inner-city youths in Southern California.

Hanna said he expects the screenplay to be done within three months. Work continues on financing the project and choosing a director and cast, he said.

The announcement of signing Howard to write the screenplay was made in Miami, where Howard lives and where Steinberg threw a Super Bowl party. Beasley said he hoped some party guests might be interested in becoming investors in the movie.

Contact the writer: 444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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