Atlanta United Enters Documentary Territory With Brad Guzan Series “Brick by Brick”

On Tuesday, August 9th, Atlanta United revealed a teaser trailer for what appeared to be a random announcement involving Brad Guzan. While the end result of that announcement is now known, the Five Stripes are diving into in-house documentaries, the lead-up to the release did an outstanding job of firing up the rumor mill.

Moments after the teaser dropped on social media, the speculation started. The cryptic video birthed various theories that were circulated via the fanbase, from ideas that Guzan was retiring and writing a book all the way to the proposal that he was going to be the next president (power loves a vacuum).

For two days the most prevalent rumor was that this was Brad’s curtain call. Why else would the club draw this much attention to an injured player midseason? The timing admittedly didn’t make sense, and with the inclusion of the various film references in the teaser it seemed that maybe he would be transitioning to a coaching role of some sort. Or perhaps the entire production was an actual film?

The next tweet Atlanta United published about Brad had a specific time included: 7:00 P.M on August 11th. The teaser continued to include quite a few film references, though.

So, what was all the hullabaloo? Turns out Atlanta United has created a three-part documentary titled “Brick by Brick” that chronicles Brad Guzan’s road to recovery from his ruptured Achilles tendon. The non-contact, freak accident (clearly caused by the ghosts of all those D.C. players Marcelino Moreno destroyed last season) occurred in a match earlier this season against F.C. Cincinnati. However, moments before the episode dropped, the big, bald wall published this legendary tweet that put to rest, at least somewhat, the rumors of him leaving.

The first episode of the documentary dropped moments later on Atlanta United’s Youtube channel and explores a bit of Brad’s playing career and the beginning stages of his injury and recovery process. The production quality of the show is wonderful, and adds a more personal flavor to the already world-class Nonstop Access videos the media team creates (check out the one from the Seattle match here, it’ll give you goosebumps). What’s more exciting, though, is watching the club’s media team dive headfirst into a variety of content that will only engage and expand the fanbase.

While it’s understood that this is a short-form documentary, the style of the series already has a bit of “All or Nothing” and “Take Us Home” flavor. It’s not expected (yet) the media folks would be exploring such vast projects, but the fact they can pump out some wonderful “backstage” content is encouraging for the worldwide aspirations of the club. Add last year’s “Dreads Shakin’” music video with Waka Flocka and Darren Eales, which was also filmed and produced by the media team, and it’s clear they’re putting together an outstanding resumé.

Hopefully fans and supporters can expect to see more content like this over the coming months, as the “soccer club documentary” genre seems to be hopping right now. If Brad’s production is the tip of the iceberg (which is only speculation at this point), then the club has everything to gain from pumping out this type of content.