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15 football movies to get the 2016 season started off right
Oliver Stone + football allegory = entertaining combo. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

15 football movies to get the 2016 season started off right

Lights. Camera. Action. 

A cliché start to film production, but can also be applied to another visual feast that has captivated fans for decades: football.

Football and film has always been a marriage that made sense. Even some of the stars of the football field cross over into film. John Wayne was a scholarship footballer at USC, Burt Reynolds was a Seminole at Florida State, and Dwayne Johnson struck fear in wide receivers and running backs as a linebacker at the U in Miami.

Heck, even Will Ferrell is a record-holding kicker in Orange County.

There may be no sport that lends itself to the kind of drama needed to tell a captivating story. The athletes that grace the gridiron are considered gladiators by many, but are still just mere mortals trying to find their place in the world.

With football season just beginning, here are some movies to watch to get in the spirit and celebrate the reintroduction of America’s true pastime.

 

Little Giants – This is the movie that made, “you play like girl!” from The Sandlot a little irrelevant. A niece, who has something to prove against the Uncle who cut her from his team, leads a peewee football team comprised of a group of rejects with a receiver that can’t receive, and a runner who can’t run. Modern Family star Ed O’Neill and Rick Moranis of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids fame, play the win-obsessed uncle and encouraging father-coach respectively.

The Waterboy – The college football movie that launched a thousand quotes. Bobby Boucher goes from sideline hydration specialist to on-field sack specialist after he channels his anger after years of being bullied. This peak-Adam Sandler flick features everything from Colonel Sanders to weird Cajun accents, and all the “foosball” you can handle.

The Replacements – You thought the Little Giants were a ragtag team? Try a college quarterback who has a reputation of choking, an English kicker with a gambling debt and a deaf tight end. These are some of the new players on the fictional Washington Sentinels, who are there to save football while a player strike is ongoing. Keanu Reeves plays the quarterback haunted by his past, and Gene Hackman plays the coach trying to keep the Frankenstein team together.

The Blind Side – A family turns a runaway youth to a monster offensive tackle in this emotional drama. Oscar winner Sandra Bullock plays the stern, but encouraging mother who accepted a shy boy from the other side of the tracks into her home and helped him become a star. Craziest twist in this story doesn’t even happen in the movie: The movie is based on the life of real NFL offensive lineman Michael Oher, currently playing on the Carolina Panthers.

Any Given Sunday – In terms of an allegory of the NFL, it doesn’t get much better than Oliver Stone’s look into professional football. There may not be a better movie that looks into the political side of football where team owners are at odds with a coach who has to manage the clash of youth and experience in his own locker room. If you want a star-powered film with Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, with cameo appearances from Dick Butkus, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Owens and other football giants, look no further than Any Given Sunday.

Jerry Maguire – If you watched this movie, and didn’t want to immediately shout “SHOW ME THE MONEY,” you had no soul. This funny look into the business of sport had a lot of heart, with Tom Cruise playing the struggling agent to a rambunctious Arizona Cardinals wide receiver in Cuba Gooding Jr. Add in a little kid with glasses, and you have a recipe for one of the more quotable sports movies.

Varsity Blues – Drug needles, scholarships and whipped cream bikinis. Must be Texas high school football. Not only do they have to win for a football-obsessed town, they have to navigate the pressures that come with it. This entertaining film features a quiet high school quarterback and his battle with a coach who will win at any cost. James Van Der Beek leaves the comfy confines of Dawson’s Creek to play the quarterback, while Jon Voight takes the mantle as the craziest high school football coach ever.

Friday Night Lights – Before the TV show, there was the equally gritty movie.  For every Jon Voight in Varsity Blues there are Billy Bob Thornton’s to pick up the slack on the more sympathetic end of the spectrum. Based on a book by H.G. Bissinger, this movie follows the 1988 state title run of the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas, led by coach Gary Gaines. Gaines, who is continually on the hot seat, needs to win in order keep his job while tending to the needs of his players on and off the field so they become good men.

Invincible – We all have that one buddy that we watch the game with on Sundays that scoffs at the TV and says, “I could make that play.” Disney tells the true story of how that actually happened to one lucky fan. Mark Wahlberg plays one of his more dramatic parts as Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender who made the Philadelphia Eagles roster from 1976-1978. While most couch quarterbacks will not have the same end as Papale, the movie gives hope that it at least could happen.

The Longest Yard – No, this will not be Adam Sandler’s second appearance on the list. Instead, go right to the original 1974 film starring Burt Reynolds leading a team of prisoners against the guards who abuse them. The comedy featured a number of cameos from NFL players like Ray Nitschke, and was filmed at Georgia State Prison.

Gridiron Gang – If you can’t get enough of troubled ballers, this film follows the story of a juvenile detention center and the kids who are looking for redemption on the football field. Dwayne Johnson plays the tough coach with heart, helping the troubled teens find their way through life.

Rudy – The ultimate underdog story. Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger didn’t have the physical stature to play at legendary Notre Dame, but that never stopped him from trying. Every obstacle that stands in his way is merely a speed bump in his journey to becoming one of the Fighting Irish. While the events of the movie have been called into question, the film itself will long be considered one of the most inspiring pieces of cinematic art of all time.

Knute Rockne, All American – “Win just one for the Gipper.” The phrase that has been echoed for decades as one of the most inspiring battle cries for Notre Dame football. Also, it may have won Ronald Reagan a few elections, but that's beside the point. It also stars Pat O’Brien in the title role as the great Notre Dame coach.

Brian’s Song – Move over Field of Dreams, the best guy-cry movie is on the gridiron and not on the diamond. This story follows the unconquerable friendship of NFL legend Gale Sayers and his Chicago Bears teammate Brian Piccolo, who is fighting cancer. Even the most stone-cold football fan can’t help but shed a tear. It may not have graced the screen at a theater, but this TV movie stands as one of the greatest football movies of all time.

Remember the Titans – No football movie gave a better look into the struggles of racial integration in 1971 like this film.  Denzel Washington plays black head coach Herman Boone, who is presiding over a newly integrated team at T.C. Williams High school. The team struggles with racial tensions on the field, but that is only a part of the issues that plague the high school and the community as a whole.  If the speech given by Boone at Gettysburg doesn’t want to make you run through a wall, get your pulse checked.

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Did I miss something? Let us know your favorite football movie in the comments below! Want to rant and rave at me personally? Give me a follow on Twitter @1DanielTraniel.

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