On day of Super Bowl LV, football films that have inspired

Formative football-inspired flicks as told by someone who doesn't dig football films

To get you motivated to watch 3.5+ hours of the Super Bowl LV for those of you who aren’t dedicated Pats franchise fans (sorry but Tom Brady is the victor in the Belichick-Brady divorce as Larry Brown asserts), I’ve put together a list of the top football films of all time or as I like to say, “the only ones I could bear to watch because they weren’t ALL about football.” And yes, I’m a football fan.

Credit for image goes to https://twitter.com/byDavidGardner/

In no particular order:

#1 Rudy: In the early 90s, an adorable child actor and son of Hollywood icons, Patty Duke and John Astin, named Sean Astin, whose most well-known role at that point was in the 80s classic, Goonies, starred in a biopic about a Notre Dame wannabe football player named Rudy Ruettiger. Since then, we’ve seen him reprise his fandom for younger generations with a short, albeit pivotal role, as Joyce’s lovable boyfriend in Stranger Things, Bob.

Not trying to give too much away here in the way of spoilers:

In present day, Ruettiger is a motivational speaker. In the 1970s - the period in which most of the film takes place, he is a Notre Dame fan who isn’t able to pursue an academic career at Notre Dame because of his dyslexia. That doesn’t deter Rudy however and he enrolls at a nearby Catholic college and keeps on trying till he eventually makes it into the school.

There’s more to the story of course. Rudy wants to play football for the top college football team. He’s an avid fan but he’s not a super hero, he’s not athletically talented … He has a strong will, heart, and perseverance. Rudy is the classic underdog you can’t help but root for. A strong supporting role by MCU staple, Jon Favreau, and other veteran actors like Ned Beatty and Charles Dutton make this a film worth bring out of the 90s archive to watch again or for the first time.

The much-needed trailer:

#2 Brian’s Song: Sticking with the 70s theme, this one actually was produced in the 70s but based on another true story of the life and friendship between Chicago Bears’ Brian Piccolo who died of terminal cancer early in his career and Gale Sayers, a teammate. It breaks racial barriers and serves as a testament to the power of friendship and courage as it shows the love and dedication between the two players (the white Piccolo and the black Sayers) and their families.

When players looked and acted like normal people, albeit very skinny people:

It’s a definitive tearjerker, not unlike the 1970’s Love Story with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal but for those who like the human interest/emotional elements of the players, it’s right up your alley.

Oh and not that we need to play “6 degrees of Billy Dee Williams” but he played Lando in the Star Wars films and Jon Favreau (from Rudy) was a voice actor from Clone Wars who we all know now is the show runner for the hit Star Wars’ series The Mandalorian.

Keeping in mind the movie was a made for network TV (ABC) at the time, I won’t bore you with the melodrama of the trailer, but just watch it!

By now you’ve probably picked up on a Midwestern sensibility or preference with my football favorites. I’ve spent a third of my life between Illinois and Michigan so that’s that. So as not to disappoint, I do have a put a shout out for the Amazon documentary, All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines - a behind-the-scenes about the 2017 season of the Wolverines as their coach, legend, Jim Harbaugh, a UMich alum, comes back to coach the team after a successful NFL coaching career. Try not to take into account Michigan’s lackluster college football stats since Harbaugh has taken on head coach duties there.

#3 Jerry Maguire: Before Tom Cruise was jumping on a couch on Oprah professing his love for ex Katie Holmes or jumping out of planes on Mission Impossible, he was a highly successful sports agent who got up one day and decided he needed to live a better life and do better by the athletes he represents. Naturally the big corporation he works for doesn’t agree, but a rising star in the form of Renee Zellweger’s Dorothy Boyd believes in Tom aka Jerry and decides to leave the company with him. And she has an adorable kid who always knows what to say at the right times.

This kid made us all want to adopt him:

Supporting roles by Cuba Gooding Jr as Rod Tidwell (and Jerry’s star wide receiver) and Regina King, who even then burned bright in the supporting role of Rod’s wife, Marcee, back before King was a star director or kicked butt in The Watchmen make this Cameron Crowe film worth watching over and over again. And for the record, I remember after watching this film the first time being blown away by King’s performance. Gooding Jr subsequently went on to win Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Cruise was nominated for Best Actor, but had to settle for a Golden Globe.

Is that what we all think it is? Yes this is the 90s.

Decent trailer:

#4 Silver Linings Playbook: This might be my all-time favorite film of the 21st century, let alone football. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, as a widow and Bradley Cooper, as a man with bipolar disorder who is an avid Eagles fan. The movie explores the relationship between the two stars who subsequently teamed up in other David O. Russell hits like American Hustle and their chemistry in the film is magnetic. Tiffany, as a widow trying to come to terms with her young life and Cooper as a man trying to keep sane so he win back his ex wife.

Who doesn’t love dark hair and blue eyes?

As a side note, when I first published this post, I left this movie out because I couldn’t decide if I should best classify it as one of my all-time favorite romantic films or a football flick. Given its homage to mainline Philly and all things Eagles I couldn’t resist adding it here, even as a later addition.