Top 5 Greatest Football Movies Of All Time!
Hell No “Wildcats” ain’t one of them!
While channel surfing the other day, I stumbled upon the movie “Wildcats” probably the worst football movie ever made. However, with my football “Jones” in full bloom, I watched it anyway. The “on field” action was horrible — which is to be expected when the acting cast has zero athletic ability — young Wesley Snipes being the lone exception.
But it did get me to thinking about my favorite football movies of all time. To qualify, the acting needs to be top notch, while the on field action needs to be at least believable. Below is my attempt at selecting a top 5 :
5. All The Right Moves
Starring a young Tom Cruise as Stefan Djordjevic the headstrong high school defensive back — trying to use football as a way to make it out of that dead end shot of whiskey & a beer town — where alcohol & high school football victories were the main relief from the steel mills. The riff between him & his vengeful head coach played by Craig T. Nelson is classic.
4. Remember The Titans
Based on a true story circa 1970, Denzel Washington plays head coach Herman Boone — leader of the 1st integrated high school football teams in Virginia state history. Starting down racism on & off the field — he leads this racial harmony experiment of a team to the state championship against all odds.
3. The Program
James Caan leads a great cast as Sam Winters head coach of a corrupt college football program. The pressure to win at all cost is greatly exposed as Coach Winters temporary loses his way — while the team falls apart around him. He starts to see his players less as human beings & more as vehicles to victories.
2. Any Given Sunday
Again, another great cast led by Al Pacino as Tony D’Amato head coach of a fictional pro football team. Director Oliver Stone puts his thing down as the football action & camera angles are unmatched by any sports movie I’ve ever seen. Stone also goes behind the scenes to expose the political & business side of pro sports — as well as the wild off field activities of wealthy pro athletes. In the middle of all this, is a head coach — who’s new team owner Ms. Christina Pagniacci played by Cameron Diaz is totally convinced the game has pasted him by. Struggling to hold on to leadership of his underachieving team & his job — his pre-game speech before the big playoff game is one of the best scenes of the movie :
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7bgtu2O4E
I don’t know about you, but after watching that — I’m damn well ready to play some football!!!
If it wasn’t for my top choice — which I admit I have a personal bias towards — Any Given Sunday is a strong enough film to be my No.1!
1. Brian’s Song
This is the movie that started my love affair with football & in effect, movies in general — since I can’t remember ever sitting still long enough to watch one prior to this film. It stared Billy Dee Williams as Gale Sayers & James Caan as Brian Piccolo before they became iconic film idols in “Lady Sings the Blues” & “The Godfather” respectfully. A true story, they played two rookie teammates of the 1965 Chicago Bears — Sayers black, Piccolo white — originally competing for playing time, but eventually becoming friends & roommates during the racially charged ‘60's.
The movie begins with actor Jack Warden, playing head coach George Halas — also serving as film narrator. At some point Warden says “all true stories end in tragedy, this is a true story!” Man, get the tissues ready, cause trust me, it’s gonna happen! Some of the toughest guys I knew, have broken down — some have left the room — to avoid anyone seeing them cry. It’s possibly the saddest movie I’ve ever seen, especially with that iconic musical score playing in the background.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SJGwzUHfspk
In another brilliant move, the producers of this film decided to include actually Chicago Bears game film compliments of Ed Sabol of NFL Films. The Hall of Fame greatness of Gale Sayers’ magical running style burst off the screen — for all present & future generations to admire.
Watching these one to two minute highlight clips as a 10 years old was all it took to hook me. Sayers graceful running style illustrated the true beauty of this game — never dreaming that this discovery would change my life forever. Since then, I’ve been a player, a coach, a fan, a critic, a reader & a writer of this game. Football has taught me so many lessons about discipline, perseverance, unity, leadership & humility. In short, it’s helped to make me a better man!
Honorable Mention :
Ok, so it looks like I’m going out like a punk — adding more movies, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a few more movies some props :
Rudy
Very inspirational movie — also a true story — Rudy Ruettiger played by Sean Astin, sets a boyhood goal to play football for Notre Dame. As he grows, he runs into 3 problems — he’s too short, too slow & too light in the ass to play big time college football — so everyone tells him.
But Rudy wouldn’t be deterred. He exhibited a can do spirit, hard work ethic, perseverance, sacrifice, determination, humility — all without promises that his ultimate goal will ever be achieved. Those are all core values that I greatly believe in.
So why didn’t it rank in my top 5? One reason only : Notre Dame! — I know it’s petty, but I hate everything about Notre Dame football. My older brother was a fan when they were good — he use to rub that shit in my face every Saturday. Even though they suck now & he unfortunately passed on — the rivalry continues, because his spirit lives on inside of me — freak Notre Dame! Trust me, he’d understand — LOL
North Dallas Forty
Another damn good movie — written by Peter Gent, ex Dallas Cowboys wide receiver. It’s a “tell all” movie about his experiences as a NFL player — but he cleverly changed some names so his ass couldn’t be sued. Released in 1979, it was a little ahead of it’s time in terms of exposing the darker side of pro football — it also goes deep into the pettiness of coaches & management — about why some players get playing time, while others do not.
So why didn’t it rank in my top 5? One reason only : Dallas Cowboys! Again, I know it’s petty, but my father was a Cowboy’s fan — rubbed that shit in my face every time they won a Super Bowl. Even though they suck now & unfortunately he passed on also — the rivalry continues, because his spirit still lives on inside of me — freak the Cowboys! Trust me, he’d understand — LOL
The Longest Yard
My last film of honor is the original “Longest Yard” starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crew ex. pro quarterback turned bad boy — who’s antics go too far, which eventually lands him in prison. While there, he’s talked into forming a football team of convicts — to play against the guards. Good guys vs the bad guys — but as film goes on, the lines gets blurred between who is good & who is truly evil.
The acting in this film was gritty enough that you felt real tension between the convicts & the guards from beginning to end — however, it couldn’t crack my top 5 because the football action was just too unbelievable. Especially that last TD when Crew reversed field like 3 times in super slow mo — with the offensive guard never leaving his side? C’mon Man, get the fuck outta here!
That said, I still liked it better than the Adam Sandler/Chris Rock remake. Way too many comedian in it — tripping over each other to get the big laugh. To me, it took away from the grittiness of the film, unlike the original.
While I’m on the subject, what’s up with these remakes of classic films? I mean, I get it, we live in a capitalism society — Hollywood doesn’t have a problem making new money from an old ideal, but come on, leave the classics alone. Like, really, they tried to make a remake of “Brian Song.” Are you kidding me! — smh
So that’s my list — any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I’m sure I left someone’s favorite film out — let’s get some debate going. Don’t like my list, make your own list — maybe I’ll debate you on it! Get at me!
