Local officers display hometown pride, team devotion on national TV

CALCUTTA - The Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football broadcast of the game between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers will feature a segment highlighting six local police officers caught up in the rivalry.

In "A Place Between," filmmaker Anderson Molzon focuses on St. Clair and Liverpool township police department employees demonstrating hometown pride, team devotion and how a longtime sports rivalry can be the ties that bind friends, family, coworkers and a community. The short film is expected to air between 7:45 and 8 p.m.

Directed and produced by Molzon, who won a Sports Emmy for his role as researcher in the 2024 short feature "NFL 360 Heroes," the piece features St. Clair Police Department administrative assistant Herman Potts, a Steelers fan, and his father Perk (Poopa) Potts, Browns fan; officer Jay Cargnel, Browns fan, Liverpool Township Police Department; John Shaughnessy, Steelers fan, St. Clair Township Police Department; Chad Tatgenhorst, Browns fan, of St. Clair Township; and officer Jasper Cannon, Steelers fan, St. Clair Township Police Department.

Being from Flint, Michigan, which has had its share of negative national news coverage, and working in Los Angeles and seeing the stereotypes and what people think about the rest of the country, Molzon wanted to find places he felt were beautiful, unique with a ton of character and show the places off and do those areas some justice. He also wanted to show other people around the country that there are other places that can be great.

"I really just put a lot of pressure on myself to not go along with those stereotypes and really try to show the beauty of all these places," Molzon said. "There wasn't a single person that I met in Calcutta (Tuesday) and in East Liverpool that wasn't so welcoming or so willing to do whatever we needed to do to get whatever shot."

Molzon made the arrangements with Potts on Monday, and then he arrived from Los Angeles along with a camera crew from Columbus in Calcutta on Tuesday and began filming. They wrapped up interviews and filming Wednesday morning when he left to return to Los Angeles where the footage is being edited for tonight.

Molzon said the focus was on the uniqueness of the location of the area and the division of fans who engaged in the back and forth that takes places with the rivalry in this tight-knitted community where friends, families and coworkers are sports rivals who could be sitting next to each other at Coaches Burger Bar jabbing their buddy with an elbow every time a sack or interception happens with their team and go right back to normal when the game ends.

"That's what makes sports so amazing, being able to bring people together," Molzon said. "I do not know if there is anything else like it in the world right now."

Molzon noted when he was trying to figure out how to find the sports fans and people to talk to, he thought there were three places that would know who to direct him to someone - a church, a school or the police department. So he called St. Clair Township Police Department and was put through to Potts, and the rest worked itself out with Potts helping to put all the pieces in place.

Potts said he honestly thought the call was fake, but he took down Molzon's information and did some research. He found Molzon had an extensive history online and discovered his Emmy win, at which point he realized he was the real thing and called him back.

Potts said Molzon explained to him that he had heard about the area and how the community is pretty much half-and-half with the number of Steelers and Browns fans in geographical region, which is located between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and how Molzon wanted to highlight the rivalry and how people choose who they root for.

Molzon told Potts he was the perfect example when Potts told him that he and his siblings are Steelers fans while their parents are both Browns fans. Molzon told Potts he wanted to speak with him and some other people in the area, including two police officers. That is when Shaughnessy and Cargnel were brought onboard and were interviewed at the park while bantering back and forth about their teams.

When they went to Orchards Nursing home to interview Potts with his father, they asked his father how Potts and his siblings became Steelers fans when he was a Browns fan. His father told them that he dropped them all on their heads.

Interviews then continued at Coaches Burger Bar with Tatgenhorst and Cannon. They also interviewed Howard Williams and his family who were eating there and all wearing Browns gear and Chris and Trudy Joseph, a couple where one is a Browns fan and the other a Steelers fan.

Potts took Molzon on a tour of the area while filming, then went into downtown East Liverpool and filmed at D's Diner and other locations.

Potts told Molzon everyone involved in the interviews and filming in just that short time began to feel like friends and family, and he wanted to thank Molzon for that.

Cargnel, Shaughnessy, Herman and Perk Potts, Tatgenhorst and Cannon were all in agreement that they are proud of their hometown; it is great to be able to have Calcutta represented on national television in this manner. They all also said it was a great experience and one they enjoyed very much.

Molzon said he wanted to give a shout out to the police department for help, and he wants everyone to know that it was the production company DLP Media Group and Amazon Prime that put this piece of work together, but this is not his piece. This piece of work belongs to St. Clair Township, the production company and the crew making it everyone's piece.

Potts wished to express his appreciation for Coaches Burger Bar and Orchards Nursing Home for their hospitality during the filming and St. Clair and Liverpool township police departments for allowing their officers to be a part of it.

"At the end of the day, I was ecstatic to answer that call and be able to network everybody together to make this thing work and to be highlighted on national TV," Herman Potts said. "We have a lot of pride in our town, whether they be Browns or Steelers fans, but at the end of the day we all come together and make the best of it. I'm just happy for us to be shown on national TV, what we have to offer here and hopefully bring in some tourism of people from outside our area."

For those who are unable to view "A Place Between" when it airs tonight, it will be viewable on reviewonline.com after the game.