The Top 10 Best Football Movies
Football Movies Bring All the Intensity of the Sport Minus the Commercials.
They say that nothing is more American than baseball and apple pie. Well, that might have been true in the past, but now America loves watching morbidly obese athletes run into each other at top speed over and over and over and… That’s why I’ve decided to tackle a list of the 10 best football movies of all time. Football is a big part of American life, especially for small towns with nothing better to do. That’s why this list doesn’t just look at teams playing in the big leagues but includes high school and college teams as well. However, all these films do feature big old Americans throwing the pigskin around and inflicting dangerous brain injuries on one another. Sure, it’s a dangerous sport, but it’s all done for our amusement. So, go long because this list of the best football movies is coming in hot.
10. We Are Marshall
Kicking off this list of football movies is a film about one of the most tragic moments in the history of the sport. In 1970, a plane carrying all the players and pretty much everyone associated with the team in any capacity crashed on it’s way to North Carolina. Football is a pretty big deal in Virginia, so you can understand just how devastating this to the community. Rather than suspend the football program, the Dean decides to hire Jack Lengyel as the new coach to rebuild the team. Together with the few players that missed the flight, Lengyel pulls every able-bodied student he can find to create a new “Young Thundering Herd.” Things don’t go well at first, but the team manages to build momentum and delivers one hell of a comeback story. Critics might not have seen the value in We Are Marshall, but it’s a fan favorite among football lovers.
9. The Replacements
Fact: Keanu Reeves is a national treasure. That’s why I’m excited to include one of the crudest football movies of all time on this list since he plays the star quarterback. Set during a strike in which football players demand ever more money that won’t compensate for their poor financial planning, the NFL brings in some scabs to finish out the season. Reeve pulls together a team of misfits who have unique skills that lend themselves to playing on the gridiron. They’re a little rough around the edges at first, but thanks to a shared sense of comradery over being a bunch of loveable losers, they manage to pull together and make a pretty good team, even if they’re a little unorthodox on the field. Even when news comes down that the pros want their jobs back, the team still pours their all into the game so they can hold their heads high.
8. Any Given Sunday
Oliver Stone is probably best known for his incredible Vietnam War movies, but did you know that he also directed one of the biggest fan-favorite football movies of all time? I mean, obviously he did, because why else would I be talking about him. Any Given Sunday aggrandizers the sport into an almost Shakespearean tale of conflict and betrayal. At the center is Al Pacino as the coach of the Miami Sharks (the film plays things a little loose to avoid a lawsuit from the NFL) who is at odds with the team’s younger owner. That’s just one of the many conflicts that arise over the course of this film that follows the team on their way to a championship. Sure, it’s got a hefty run time at 157 minutes, but that’s nothing for real football fans.
7. Invincible
Ain’t no rule that says a middle-aged bartender can’t play football (though he probably shouldn’t). Disney hit the gridiron with the inspiring tale of Vince Papale, who in 1976 became the oldest rookie to play professional football at the ancient age of 30. When most players were trading in their careers for jobs as car dealership spokesmen and cortisone addiction, Papale was just getting his start. Who better to play the part than Hollywood fitness fanatic Mark Wahlberg (who might be in better shape than most pros at almost 50). Invincible really is an inspiring story as Papale gets a chance to play the game he loves more than anything. The only thing American’s love more than football is an underdog story, and Invincible offers both in one convenient package.
6. The Blind Side
This biopic about offensive lineman Michael Oher is probably the highest-profile entry on this list of football movies for a few reasons. For one, you might remember it being nominated for Best Picture in 2010 (Sandra Bullock actually won for Best Actress), or you might remember it for all those people saying it had a white-savior complex (though Oher has said, “It’s a great story. It seems like they helped me to get to this point. They’re my family and without them, I wouldn’t be here.”). Either way, it’s still a great story about a young man given the opportunity (probably thanks in part to white privilege) to show his incredible skills on the field. All controversy aside, The Blind Side is a feel-good movie that shows the hell and hard work players have to go through in order to make it in this brutal sport.