Research Projects

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

James Robert “Radio” Kennedy

Cuba Gooding Jr. played James Robert “Radio” Kennedy in the movie Radio in 2003. The movie was mostly about college football. It's only loosely related to the real story of Mr. Kennedy. Of all the exaggerations, omissions, additions, lionizations and alterations to make his story into a movie, I can say that at least the nickname "Radio" is real.

The movie is based on a Sports Illustrated magazine article written by Gary Smith. The article was pretty accurate. The movie was lacking. The real James "Radio" Kennedy was born in 1946. At 5 years old he was in a car wreck that left him with brain damage. His early years were as difficult as you'd expect. He never became a DJ, announcer, board op or announcer. His nickname comes purely from the transistor radio that he always carried with him. When he first was discovered by the coaches of T.L. Hanna High School in 1964 he was loitering in the football field with that same radio.

Anderson South Carolina celebrated the life of "Radio." He has his own song, Eyes Of The Heart played on local radio stations. In 2003, three years after the movie made their town famous, Hanna High School unveiled a bronze statue of Radio. Radio has even gone on the road and spoken at universities. He was recognized on the floor of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2005 for his inspirational acts. But he's never graduated from high school.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:07 AM

    The movie was NOT mostly about college football, it was about the Coach and Radio, and the HIGHSCHOOL football, basketball, and cheerleaders

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  2. I seem to remember all these football games going on and him being the mascot of a football team and the coach being a football coach. If the repetition isnt' helping your memory, the keyword here is football.

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  3. Anonymous4:49 PM

    i believe that most of this artcle was wrong and also that it is not descriptive i had to go to a different place to get his b-day i need more than just a year for my project!!!!

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  4. Are you complaining that I didn't make your school paper easy? You are an idiot.

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  5. Anonymous5:26 PM

    he never wanted to graduate they tried to make him a senior but he steadily replies junior and it high school football radio is more thana mascott he is a good luck charm Hanna lost the game they left him behind on and he has more than one radio coach jones gives him a new one every year for his birthday

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  6. Anonymous7:56 AM

    Jose Fritz, I seem to remember ALOT more then football happening in the movie... despite it not being as accurate as an article... its a movie, they put something up there for a theatrical presentation. Oh, and its high school football, and the movie, if you read the synopsis, or imdb.com, or anything from the official page, was about Jones and Radio's relationship and how it got started, aswell as to why a top rated coach gave up coaching to care for someone. Grow up.

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  7. You are arguing anonymously with a pseudonym on a blog. I'd say you are an idiot but I'm not sure you exist. If I get some spare time I'll add some more inaccuracies to the article later.

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  8. Anonymous4:37 PM

    In fact, one year, they gave Radio a diploma. Soon later, a student made the remark of "that means you graduated Radio. You can't come back" Radio had a literal mental breakdown. Needless to say, the student got in trouble

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  9. Anonymous4:37 PM

    In fact, one year, they gave Radio a diploma. Soon later, a student made the remark of "that means you graduated Radio. You can't come back" Radio had a literal mental breakdown. Needless to say, the student got in trouble

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  10. Anonymous3:06 AM

    Why write about something if you don't actually care about the story or the details?

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  11. Because I get lots of web traffic on this post for no sensible reason.

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