The story of the 1988 Carter Cowboys is really three stories. It's a riveting sports story about a Dallas ISD high school that put together the most talented team in the history of Texas high school football despite an academic scandal likely created by jealous parents at a rival school. It's a crime saga, too, about a group of middle-class kids who started pulling armed robberies because they were bored after the season ended and then spent hard time in the Texas prison system. Finally, the story of the 1988 Carter Cowboys, as told in ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary What Carter Lost is one of redemption for the team. For the five Cowboys who ended up in jail, it's enough that they are all out and leading productive lives. For the rest of the team and the Carter community, it's about being recognized as more than just the team that ended Odessa Permian's Friday Night Lights season and later had to give up its state championship.