The story of Kenny Washington, the Lincoln High and UCLA athlete who blazed a trail by starring with the Rams in the 1940s, has been getting more and more attention in the past few years. But the Rams realized it still wasn’t enough. The result is a film that’s worth any fan’s time.

“Kingfish: The Story of Kenny Washington,” a short film produced by The BLK Originals for the Rams, premiered Wednesday in Inglewood at the Miracle Theatre, about a mile from the Rams’ home at SoFi Stadium.

It also went live Wednesday for viewing free of charge on the Rams’ online platforms at therams.com/kingfish and youtube.com/larams.

It’s a stylish, entertaining appreciation of Washington, who, along with fellow Bruin Woody Strode, broke the NFL’s color line by signing a contract with the Rams in 1946, the result of pressure on the team to integrate its roster as a condition of moving from Cleveland to Los Angeles and into the Coliseum.

Chroniclers’ contention that Washington’s story has gone untold might strike some UCLA and Rams fans as odd.

They know about Washington’s historic significance; his greatness in a delayed, three-year career with the Rams; the 92-yard touchdown run against the then-Chicago Cardinals in 1947 that remains the franchise’s longest rushing play. The Game Day newsletter remembered that run last November.

Washington’s story has been told in books, in 2021’s “The Forgotten First: Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley, Bill Willis and the Breaking of the NFL Color Barrier,” by Keyshawn Johnson and Bob Glauber, and “Walking Alone: The Untold Journey of Football Pioneer Kenny Washington,” by Dan Taylor.

The Rams honored Washington during the 2021 season by awarding college scholarships in his name to 13 students (a nod to his jersey number), introducing his daughter Karen at the regular-season finale at SoFi Stadium, and wearing “KW” stickers on their helmets.

Yet it’s true that Washington’s significance has been an under told story.

The new film, introduced during Black History Month, days after the first Super Bowl to match two Black quarterbacks, makes the story inviting by telling it through the eyes of kids as well as ex-Rams players including Steven Jackson, Marshall Faulk and Isaac Bruce, and current Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

Last night, Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff told an audience featuring Washington family members that the film has been a “passion project” for the Rams and pointed to its relevance today.

The NFL continues to wrestle, but maybe not hard enough, with issues of equity. Black quarterbacks have won a rightful place among the game’s biggest stars and leaders. But the 32-team league, with playing rosters that are more than 60% Black, still has only three Black head coaches.

Why isn’t Kenny Washington remembered as easily as Jackie Robinson, his UCLA teammate who broke major league baseball’s color line by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947?

Glauber, taking part in a discussion panel led by LZ Granderson after the “Kingfish” screening, said it’s partly that baseball was bigger news than pro football in the 1940s.

“The NFL was big in 1946, but it wasn’t as big as baseball,” said Glauber, a longtime NFL writer in New York. “College football was big. Horse racing was big. Boxing was big. The NFL didn’t have the kind of spotlight that it has now.

“But,” Glauber said, “I think as the NFL kind of goes through its reckoning with race, Kenny’s story and Woody’s and Motley’s and Willis’, their stories have come to light a little more.”

Glauber said his and Johnson’s book project began when he was standing in the New York Giants locker room a few years ago, looking around and realizing it’s one of the most diverse workplaces in America.

“And I’m just thinking, why do I not know more about why it’s diverse?” Glauber said. “I go, is there a Jackie Robinson of the NFL? I Googled ‘first Black football player in the NFL,’ and Kenny Washington’s name came up.

“I’m reading about him and I’m like, I don’t know this. I’m paid to cover this sport, and I don’t know it. If I don’t know it, I’ll bet you most people in this country don’t know it.”

The new film is the latest worthwhile effort to change that.

Kenny Washington died in 1971.

His granddaughter Kysa Washington told the audience in Inglewood that “Kingfish” helps to bring his memory to life.

“It means the world will now be able to know about Kenny the way they know about Jackie, the way they know about Jesse (Owens),” Kysa said, “the way they know about all the other ‘firsts’ that may not have set out to be the first but were challenged with that role and ran with it.”