GRIDIRON'S GREATEST

If you look at the best sports movies of all time you will find that not many of them take place on the gridiron. Hollywood has churned out some great football movies but they can’t seem to compete with the best in other sports. This could be attributed by a number of factors. Unlike baseball, boxing and basketball, football action shots are hard to make look realistic. They end up being too violent and not believable. Then the characters all seem to be the same. The quarterback is the main character, typically with a love interest while the receiver has blinding speed but is plagued by horrible hands. Then of course there is the bloodthirsty giant of a linebacker and a showboat running back who “needs his touches”.

In order to overcome these stereotypes of football movies the producers have had to invest into dramatic off the field plot lines in which the team has to overcome enormous odds, football or otherwise to become victorious. Because of these themes the moments on the field are intensified by the conflicts that the characters have to tackle off of it.

In real life, football provides us with dramatic moments more than any other sport. Maybe because of the physicality, the awareness that is either “YOU” or “ME” that makes the sport a pleasure to see. Last second drives and time-expiring field goals. In no other sport can a person sacrifice his body for the good of the team like they can in football. Football more so than baseball or basketball a person can make up for their lack of skill with a tremendous amount of heart. It is the struggle that makes us watch, the hope that the runt can become a hero and whether a David can conquer a Goliath. So we begin our Movie Week here on SportsNight with the great game of football.

#3 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
Friday Night Lights takes the audience into small town USA where football is everything. Many of us can’t imagine our lives peaking, our fame climaxing in high school but the kids of Permian High School have to live with that harsh reality. This movies shines light on the pressure that these high schoolers have to deal with. Through the thick of the season the players begin to understand the shocking reality that there is more to life than high school football.

QUOTE TO REMEMBER: “Being perfect is being able to look someone in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down” Coach Billy Gaines.

#2 BRIAN’S SONG
In 1971, Godfather star, James Caan and Stars Wars’ Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) team up to make this touching TV movie. Really realistic action as the movie used real Chicago Bears footage. It is a story that features Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo. One black and one white, one loud and one shy, one talented and the other a hardworking runt face unprecedented odds and become best friends. Their tallest task is when Brian is diagnosed with cancer. It is a true buddy story that strikes the heart of the ultimate sports theme, love your teammates.

QUOTE TO REMEMBER: (Before the game) “I love Brian Piccolo. And I’d like all of you to love him too, and tonight when you hit your knees. Please ask God to love him.” Gale Sayers.

#1 REMEMBER THE TITANS
This is my favorite football movie by a long shot. I mean when you mix Denzel Washington, football and a grade-A soundtrack you are going to have a good movie. It follows the season of high school in Alexandria, VA during the Civil Rights movements. The school was the first in the area to mix black and white students, which meant the football team, would be too. In a remarkable training camp the team rallies together only to be hit with the racism and chaos of the real world. Instead of folding under the pressure the team becomes a beacon of hope for the town and the time. The team ended the season undefeated, a perfect season, not for the wins and losses but for the extraordinary maturity that the team showed during some very dark times. Did I mention Denzel was the coach?

QUOTE TO REMEMBER: “We will be perfect in every aspect of the game, you drop a pass you run a mile, you miss a blocking assignment you run a mile and if you fumble the football? Then I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts AND then you will run a mile…PERFECTION.” Herman Boone.

Other Movies: Knute Rockne, All American, the Longest Yard, Rudy, Little Giants

Dishonorable Mention: The Replacements