“Who If Not Us” Kyle Brandt & NFL360 show Ukrainian Football on the War’s Frontlines

Throughout the documentary masterfully interweaves images of the reality of the war in the Ukraine showing bombed hospitals, first-person videos of gunfights, rockets launching, and mass graves, with the sounds and images of soldiers singing patriotic songs in their native tongue.

Then he abruptly flips the page back to the wide smiles of the soldiers as they recount their gridiron glory days of the past, while adding intimate family home videos of them playing with young sons and daughters, now far away from the battlefield.

The stirring first-person videos from the Ukrainian soldiers show the war’s horror, carnage, and destruction along with the day-to-day struggles of sleeping on the cold ground and living on high alert in a dirt trench, all while they are heroically fighting for their country. Viewers are given a never-before-seen point of view from the frontlines of the conflict.

Brandt’s primary ‘Pen Pal’ is ULAF president and Kyiv Patriots player Yurii Gundych. Gundych’s days of arranging the league’s games, practices, and running routes seem far away now, as he explains why he chose to take up arms for his homeland against a massive Russian onslaught

“We are from sport, we don’t know how to make war, we have muscles and we have big big hearts, and we decide…. who if not us’

“We will defend our country, we will defend our families, and if means to die, we will die”

Andrey Zaretsky with his wife and young daughter: (NFL360-Who If Not Us)

Tragically, several members of the Ukrainian football community have been killed by the war ranging from 19-year old Oleksandr Akinin of the Zdolbuniv Eagles, to Dymtro Serbin, a renowned cardiologist known as the ‘Jerry Rice of Ukraine’, and sadly many more.

The project goes on to show how the American football community in neighboring Poland has risen to the challenge, sheltering millions of Ukrainian refugees who have fled to the Polish border, often carrying their shattered lives in nothing but a backpack.

American TJ Richardson, a former Millersville University (NCAA DII) safety and longtime player and coach in Ukraine, now with Poland’s Warsaw Mets, shares insights on how his team and others in Poland reacted to the humanitarian crisis at their doorstep.

Richardson and the Warsaw Mets promptly organized a charity game against cross-town rivals, the Warsaw Eagles, encouraging Ukrainian refugees to join the teams as players, cheerleaders, or whatever role they wanted. The Mets, among others in Poland’s football community, helped arrange ongoing aid to and from the Ukrainian border, hosting families, bringing supplies, and doing whatever they could to help those in need.

“We were able to raise some crucial funds just in time for winter. We also hosted some kids from the orphanage for a kids day introducing them to American football and giving them a opportunity participate and be a part of the community after months of sitting in shelters.” – TJ Richardson

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Brandt eventually meets up with the families of two of the Ukrainian players who have since fled to other parts of Europe.

The NFL pundit turned war activist then surprised them, bringing them to the NFL’s first game in Munich, Germany, to watch Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Seattle Seahawks in Allianz Arena.

 Of course, this trip is made with optimistic promises of bringing their husbands and fathers at war to an NFL game on a later date. At the game, the families of the Ukrainian soldiers along with TJ Richardson were honored and given a roaring and heartfelt ovation from the crowd.

“The Munich trip was about the wives being able to honor the sacrifice their husbands were making and giving them a moment of joy, a break from the constant pain of separation and uncertainty. The daughters were pointing at the players shouting ‘daddy’. They are used to seeing their fathers out there playing.’

‘Anna Gundych and Anastasiya Zaretsky were recognized at halftime by the crowd of over 70,000 people. They were there to represent the entire ULAF, the players sacrificing for Ukraine’s freedom. The ovation from the crowd was so powerful, and there was so many people that came up to the wives to say Slava Ukraini, they really felt embraced by the city of Munich.– NFL 360 producer Ryan Smith

The documentary gives the audience a rare perspective on how these players, sons, fathers, and brothers’ reality quickly turned from the brotherhood of the field and family roles, to the harsh, ugly, and often deadly realities of war. A war that is still violently raging in the heart of winter.