A yellow and purple title card with “DJ” stamped on it thrusts itself onto the screen. The next shot is of wide receiver DJ Jordan, before his commitment to and arrival at USC.
He’s in his family’s front yard, catching a football with one hand and holding his phone in the other. Inside the Watts home, part of a subsidized housing neighborhood, are his five siblings and mom.
It’s part of a new Trillion Boys documentary that goes beyond the flashiness of 7-on-7 football and digs into the intricacies of the sport and its athletes while also promoting the team. The film premiered at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach on Oct. 12 and is now available to stream on Prime Video and Apple TV+.
“I had to get comfortable, of course,” Jordan said. “I’m letting these people inside my crib. But I realized this could actually have a great impact on my life in the future. Like, my future self is actually probably gonna really be proud, and I am.”
Cameras followed Jordan into his home, at school and even to the New American Funding offices — where Trillion Boys arranged a $20,000 NIL deal with the company for him — as a way of embodying the culture of 7-on-7 football and Trillion Boys’ role in it.
Seven-on-7 football, also known as 7v7, is a stripped-down version of tackle football that focuses on passing. There’s no tackling, so quarterbacks are free to quickly make reads and dole out passes to receivers battling one-on-one with defensive backs.
The sport produces wild imagery, from the neon-colored, slim-fitting uniforms and guardian caps to showy touchdown grabs that are celebrated in a giant foam pit behind the end zone.
“It expanded the scope of what I already knew of the football community,” editor and director Alex Callens said. “You think about Olympic training and how kids start training for the Olympics when they’re small children. That same kind of commitment exists for football as well.
“DJ is showcasing here that he can dedicate himself and identify what he’s going to be doing with his life and dedicating his career towards at a very early age. And that’s valuable.”
It’s difficult to track overall participation statistics of 7-on-7 football, since there’s no true governing body. Trillion Boys has a large social media following, if that’s any indication, with 64,000 Instagram followers, 53,000 TikTok followers and 7,600 YouTube subscribers.
Current college football players like USC’s Makai Lemon, UCLA’s Scooter Jackson and Mikey Matthews as well as Clemson’s Ricardo Jones and Auburn’s Jay Crawford have all played for Trillion Boys, which was founded in 2021 by Orange County brothers Jack and Josh Stupin.
The team draws some of the best high school football recruits, especially in Southern California, and has won six regional championships while competing on a national circuit of tournaments hosted by Red Zone Elite, Battle, OT7 and Adidas.
Jordan was a four-star wide receiver in high school, and Trillion Boys reached out to him when he was playing at Cathedral. He later transferred to Sierra Canyon School for his senior year.
“I skyrocketed in the rankings,” Jordan said. “I was a kid that came out of nowhere, just like, who was this kid? Where is he coming from? And then, I got a text from Jack one day talking about do you want to play for Trillion Boys? And Trillion Boys — at the time, everybody wanted to play for Trillion Boys.”
College football recruiters are not allowed to scout players at independent 7-on-7 events. However, Jordan said that coaches had seen viral clips of him on social media making one-handed and acrobatic catches.
He ended up with 20 Division I college offers before ultimately choosing USC, where he’s now on the depth chart at wide receiver as a true freshman behind Tanook Hines. Jordan has made it into three games and has caught five passes for 38 yards.
The line drawn between 7-on-7 football and tackle football was a unique challenge for Callens, who has previously worked at NFL Network and was originally brought on to the project as an editor.
“I had no experience with 7-on-7, and it was definitely a lot to learn because it is so much different than traditional football,” Callens said.
“That started off as a big concern for me. Is the audience going to be confused about how it’s different? And in the end it’s like, we’ll do our best to explain it, but if people are getting hung up on how the rules are different, then we’re doing something else very wrong here.”
Jordan’s magnetic storyline is enough to draw the viewer in, and it’s a living example of the chaotic world of 7-on-7 football. Behind the screen, all forms of football are equal for the players who are trying to be the next big thing.
“Not everybody gets this experience,” Jordan said. “And not only am I getting this experience, my family is getting to experience. My mom is getting this experience, my brothers and sisters get to watch me get this type of experience. I was in the moment of feeling like a great example.”