NEW ORLEANS — They were bitter rivals until Hurricane Katrina turned them into teammates.

The story of 20 high school football players forced to play for the same team after Katrina blew them from their hometowns drew laughter and tears from Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

“I cried, and I laughed. Boy did I laugh,” Bradshaw said of the film footage of the players — from 16 schools — who land at East St. John High School in Reserve, roughly 30 miles west of New Orleans.

Bradshaw, a sportscaster and Louisiana native, said he couldn't resist narrating the footage-turned-documentary, “Walking on Dead Fish.”

Director Franklin Martin said the title came from a scene in which a player walks through his flood-damaged neighborhood, his feet crunching on dead fish washed onto sidewalks and lawns by Katrina's tidal surge.

The storm struck the Gulf coast Aug. 29, 2005. Many neighborhoods have yet to return three years later.

“I got so choked up and heartbroken,” said Bradshaw, who played for Woodlawn High School in Shreveport and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. “I saw race, the division, the breaking up of homes, the loss of homes and the broken hearts of children. It just captured everything.”

The film, which documents the players' 2005-06 season, is being released in New Orleans on Friday and in select theaters nationwide Oct. 3.

Emotions run high as the players, many from rival schools, are forced to share lockers and time on the field.

“It could have been a really bad situation, the rivalry of it all, but it wasn't,” Martin said.

One of the players featured in the film is current Southeastern Louisiana sophomore running back Johnny Owen. Owen, who started the year at Brother Martin, transferred to East St. John when Brother Martin didn't bring its program back after the storm.

“Johnny had quite an experience after Hurricane Katrina, being the star running back at Brother Martin and getting displaced,” SLU coach Mike Lucas said. “He and his parents made the decision for him to go to East St. John.

“Johnny ended up having a great year, dominating the area. Now that they've made this documentary, the whole story has focused on Johnny being the displaced player coming in and being the star of the team.”

Lucas said some of the comedy Bradshaw mentioned involved Owen.

“He got the nickname 'White Bread' at East St. John,” Lucas said. “Even though it was different racially for him to be in that mix, it's how those players took him in and accepted him.”

“Johnny's been great for us. For what he went through at that time, I know it's special for him and his family to get this recognition.”

Martin emphasized this film is not just another Katrina story.

“This is not about the devastation of Katrina,” Martin said. “We touch on it, but it's about the afterlife, the rebirth of the town and spirit of the people.”

Martin said he is working with Universal Pictures, which has acquired the rights to the story, to produce a full-length movie version.

Writer and director Billy Ray (“Shattered Glass,” “Flight Plan” and “Breach”) is slated to write and direct the project. Martin will produce it, along with Mark Gordon (“Saving Private Ryan” and “Grey's Anatomy”). For more information, go to www.walkingondeadfish.com.