Forsyth Filmmaker Talks New Documentary ‘Champion: The Story of Dan Pitts’

John Walton will premiere his new documentary at the Monroe County Fine Arts Center on Saturday, Feb. 1

FORSYTH, Georgia – (41NBC/WMGT) – Mary Persons High School graduate and Filmmaker John Walton, will premiere his new documentary, ‘Champion: The Story of Dan Pitts’ on Saturday, February 1, at the Monroe County Fine Arts Center in Forsyth. Before the film is debuted, Walton stopped by the 41NBC studio to speak with Justin Dierkes about how this film came about and what the audience can expect from the documentary that spotlights the former Bulldogs Head Football Coach.

“All the way to this day, years after his coaching was over, years after he has passed away, the impact he has left on the community still lives today, and a lot of people don’t understand the work ethic that we have today came from Mary Persons football” said Walton Wednesday afternoon.

Walton graduated in 2004, six years after Coach Pitts retired as the winningest Head Football Coach in the state with 346 wins. He spoke about what impact Coach Pitts’ legacy left on him during his time with the Bulldogs football team.

“What I think I learned from Mary Persons football is to respect another man that wasn’t my father” said Walton. “Respect another person. Learn how to win together. I learned how to lose together. You know you may only get, luckily, 10 games in a season, but you get a lot of practices, and a lot of the life lessons come from the practices that you do Monday through Thursday.”

Even with all the accolades Coach Pitts accomplished on the field, his impact resonates far beyond ‘The Dog House’, also known as Dan Pitts Stadium.

“When people play for Mary Persons, a lot of times, the stuff that was instilled in them that they may not recognize, when they leave, they carry it to their children, they carry it to the people around them, so it becomes not only a better kid, better player, better youth, you evolve into a better adult, better household, better family, and that’s stuff he instilled through Mary Persons football” Walton says. “A lot of it came from him being a military man, a family man, and a no nonsense man. Just makes you understand to put all the foolishness to the side, and sometimes you got to take something serious, and that goes for football to life.”

When it comes to the documentary, Walton explains what the audience can expect Saturday evening. “I learned so much about him that I didn’t know” said Walton. “He turned down head coaching jobs like Penn State. Turned down jobs like UGA (University of Georgia). He got a lot of kids into college that he didn’t even coach. A lot of the Division One schools that would come to Mary Persons, they would meet, they would call him ‘Master Dan’. They would say ‘Master Dan’, what kid did you play against? Who do we need to see?’ He would let people know that there is a kid over here in Washington County, or there is a kid over here in Dodge County. A lot of these kids got college scholarships and went to the next level, and got attention because of the light that he put on them, and they never knew, and he never spoke to them, but he made a lot of stuff like that happen. You will see that kind of stuff in the documentary.”

Walton went onto speak about how Mary Persons became so near and dear to him. “My family is from the military. I never had a place that was home until I came to Mary Persons and the stuff that I learned from Dan Pitts, this place will forever be home. I just felt like I had to pay my tribute. It’s so many different people explaining the impact he had on their lives, and its very touching. You can expect to laugh, you can expect to cry, you can expect to be on the edge of your seat, you’re going to learn a lot of things.”

Walton says the “funds from this documentary will go towards the Dan Pitts Memorial Scholarship so, there are maybe five or six kids that go to this school that didn’t get a scholarship, they gets to get money from this that could possibly take them and help further their education.”

The proceeds going to the Dan Pitts Memorial Scholarship are sponsored by the Forsyth-Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame.

This event held at the Monroe County Fine Arts Center (27 Brooklyn Ave, Forsyth, GA, 31029) will begin with the doors being opened at 5 p.m. Film starts at 6 p.m. and stick around afterwards to hear remarks from former Mary Persons coaches and players, as well as Coach Pitts’ family and friends at 7 p.m.