High School
Friday Night Lights star inspiring students as TXHSFB coach
Former Texas Longhorns safety Lee Jackson played Ivory Christian in "Friday Night Lights." Now a coach at Tyler Legacy, he uses that movie to motivate the next high schooler like himself.
Lee Jackson teaches a movie appreciation class at Tyler Legacy High School, Art 1 and Media. Friday Night Lights is the first film he shows the class every semester – fitting for the football team’s safeties coach. Buzz Bissinger’s 1990 book and the movie adaptation of a season with the Odessa Permian Panthers is the cultural touchstone Texans point to when asked what high school football means to their state. Perfect for a movie appreciation class.
When it ends, Jackson passes out test papers. Every student gets the same bonus question: What actor played Ivory Christian, a.k.a. ‘Preacher Man’, the intense and quiet linebacker that towers above the rest of the team?
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