FanPost

Top 10 Football Movies

From the FanPosts -Joel

Good afternoon Arrowhead Pride.

I bring you the next series of my world renowned Top 10 series that has featured such classics as Top 10 Football mustaches, Top 10 Football wives and Top 10 Football players named Tim Tebow.

Now up, the great American Movie. I love a good football movie, and fortunately for me there have been a lot made. Some are great, some aren’t but generally if it has a football theme, I’ll check it out.

These are my 10 favorite football movies ever. To be honest, they aren’t the best 10 movies made, rather my favorite. Since AP loves their clichés, these would be the "Right 10"

List after the jump....

10. Varsity Blues.

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This movie just snuck under the wire. I was tossed up putting this #10 or Jerry Maguire #10. First of all, Jerry Maguire is a decent movie, and more of a love story rather than a Football movie; although I love the scene where a Fu-Man-Chu’d Cuba Gooding Jr was hopping around the endzone after landing on his neck. Also Varsity Blues has one of the greatest scenes in any football movie with a young Ali Larter in her whipped cream glory for Dawson’s benefit.

Varsity Blues is like almost any other football movie in that it’s about a rag-tag bunch of characters, overcome great odds and kick ass on the big stage. There is a sobering under theme about the pressure that these high school kids are put under by their family, coaches, city, and teammates and how losing is no option, at any price. Pretty good movie, but as previously stated, it’s like about 100 other football movies, but whipped cream puts it over the top; as it should.

9. Air Bud: Golden Reciever

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Now this was simply a GREAT film. This movie was the natural sequel to Air Bud, but instead of playing basketball, Bud the loveable Golden Retriever plays…get this…FOOTBALL!!! LOL!!!! Bud’s owner Josh is now in the 8thgrade and discovers he has a great throwing arm and decides to try out for his school’s football team. Low and behold Buddy is a terrific receiver and the two become the biggest unstoppable QB-WR tandem since Mark Bradley to Tyler Thigpen.

But it’s not all sunshine and championships for our fearless duo. The football scouts aren’t the only people who noticed Bud’s special talents, a group of Russian circus managers try to kidnap him to make him a circus act….Will Bud be saved before the big game? YOU’LL HAVE TO WATCH TO SEE!!!!!!

8. Invincible

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Another great movie, and slightly better than Air Bud, if no other reason for the presence of my favorite crying football coaching wine maker, Dick Vermeil. To be honest now that I think about this movie, it should be even higher, but I made my list already and don’t really want to change it. This movie featured Marky Mark (Awesome), Elizabeth Banks (Awesome) and Greg Kinnear (Meh, Vermeil should have been played by George Clooney).

Movie is the true story about a down and out 30 year old Philadelphia bartender whose wife recently left him and lost his job. Vermeil decided to hold open tryouts for the Eagles and long story short, Marky Mark left behind his oversized chains, baggy jean and Calvin Klein underwear for the Philadelphia Eagle Green uniform. I thought it was a great movie, and comparable to Rudy, except that it wasn’t made up.

7. Friday Night Lights

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Another movie on the list about the fanatical lifestyle that is Highschool football in the state of Texas. This movie actually spawned a long-running TV show that I haven’t watched 30 seconds of because it seems like whenever I get into a new TV show, it get’s cancelled shortly and replaced with a show starting Christian Slater.

This movie is the story of a Texas high school team who is ready to compete for the state championship by riding their star tailback Boobie Miles. Seriously, that is his name and not one person in the movie makes fun of him. Boobie gets hurt early in the season and it is the story of overcoming obstacles, both from the team as well as Boobie who was a 5 star recruit.

6. Brians Song.

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Sniff sniff. This is the true and sad story about Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers who are teammates on the Chicago Bears. We all know who Gale Sayers is, but Brian is the Wes Welkerlike (read: white) overachieving RB who is now competing with Sayers for a job on the team. Sayers and Piccolo become roommates on the road and then become fast friends.

Then the unthinkable happens, Piccolo develops cancer. Since I watched this as a kid and my mom knows I don’t like sad movies, she shut the movie off and she told me that he got better and won 10 Super Bowls. Turns out it was a happy ending after all! YAY!

5. The Replacements

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Another great movie which was overlooked at Oscar time. Keanu Reeves plays Brodie Croyle who was a highly touted College QB who couldn’t do shit in the NFL so found himself out of the NFL and working on a boat. Well big bad Roger Goodell decided he hated football so he cancelled the season and the season was played with replacement players.

The coach Gene Hackman put together a group of rag-tag individuals and ex-cons but he needed his QB. So he went and saw Brodie and convinced him to come play. Unfortunately the first snap of the game, the opposing team went on a blitz and Brodie broke his arm. Hackman then called up Matt Cassel who was working at a Burger King at the time. He wasn’t highly touted but he played some TE at USC. The rag-tag bunch of individuals QB’ed by their girly-armed QB went on to great regular season success, only to be crushed in the playoffs.

Or at least that’s how I remember the movie, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.

4. The Blind Side

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The true story of Michael Oher. THIS is the football movie that won an Oscar? Sure it was a pretty good story, and a well made movie but I still think Keanu deserved it more. Your time will come Keanu, your time will come.

Anyways, we all know the story about Michael Oher who came from a life of poverty, was illiterate and when to live with a Wes Welkerlike family in the rich part of town. There he learned how to read and write, learned how to play football, and most importantly; he learned how to love.

/awwwwwww


3. Remember The Titans

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I REALLY enjoyed this movie. When I saw it was made my Disney I figured it was going to be a touchy feely family movie so I actually skipped it until a year or so when it was on TV. Now this movie kicked ass. Denzel is a great actor and played an African American coach who was hired to replace a Wes Welkerlike coach (Ok, that’s the last time I’ll use that "joke") and all hell broke loose. This was a true story which takes place in Virginia in 1971. Unlike today where there is absolutely no racism, it was still rampant back then which causes all sorts of chaos in the little community as the football team is an establishment.

Whites wouldn’t talk with blacks, blacks wouldn’t talk with whites, Denzel was receiving threats and Kate Bosworth was smoking hot. You can imagine how these stressors affected the quality of the team. Because of Denzel's charisma and his ability to break down some barriers, he did rally the team and it became a unifying symbol for the entire community.

2. The Waterboy

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Another true story about Bobby Boucher who overcame all odds to become a star linebacker for the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs. Bobby was the lowly waterboy, who despite the vocations lowly societal ranking, he had a passion for it.

Turns out that distributing water wasn’t Bobby’s only passion, he had a passion for professional wrestling and when given the opportunity, he borrowed some of the traits of his favorite professional wrestlers on the football field and therefore was one of the nation’s purest pass rushers with textbook technique and an unstoppable motor.

Same as many other football movies, he overcame many obstacles that were in his way and overcame them with good old fashioned hard work. Touching story with an underlying message that one can overcome all obstacles with passion, drive, love of a good woman, and maybe just a little luck.

1. Any Given Sunday

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Best Football movie ever made and had it all. Al Pacino was the head coach of the Miami Sharks (Ok, if I could change 1 thing it would have had NFL Licensing rights to use actual NFL team) who is very much a Bill Parcells type character who is a legend in his own right. He’s getting pushed and pulled from all sides as the owner is looking to sell the team, he’s trying to make a run at one last championship before he retires and his personal life is in shambles.

There is the most accurate and realistic football sequences, the cast is outstanding and there is a nudity scene featuring Saved By the Bell’s Jesse Spano (Ok, If I could change a 2ndthing, this would be Kelly Kopowski). The underlying story is Pacino has to make a decision regarding an Aging Legend (Think Brett Favre) and a young hot shot kid (Think Cam Newton). Does he put the ball in the hand of his aging star with shoulder problems or in the hands of the kid who has attitude problems?

The best scene in this movie was the "Inch by inch" speech before the big title game. Al Pacino is a badass actor and this is a goosebump inducing scene which made me want to stand up and hit something. Great movie, great action, great acting and would be considered my favourite football movie of all time.

…but what is yours?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.