The Best Football Movies Of All Time

I was pretty fixated on the NFL draft last night

, which got me in the mood for my next favorite thing after football: movies. And what better than a football movie on NFL draft day? I've seen them all, trust me, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on some of the greatest of all time. So, without further silliness, here are my favs, in no particular order.

Nick Nolte and Mac Davis brought us the seedier, steamier side of the NFL in North Dallas Forty. Derived from the book by the same name, written by former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Pete Gent, the movie is as good today as when it came out in 1979.

Brian's Song is one of those movies that had it all, including the ability to make tough men cry. I'm not so tough, so I get weepy just thinking about how good this movie really is. James Caan and Billy Dee Williams star in what are arguably the best roles of their careers in a made-for-TV movie of all things.

If you've never seen the original The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds, do yourself a favor and get a copy of it ASAP. Reynolds is an incredibly believable quarterback-turned-convict. The movie is benefited from the use of real life NFL stars Joe Kapp and Ray Nitschke, and is one of the greatest guards-versus-inmate movies of any genre.

Two movies you might not immediately consider are from a different era. The 1925 silent film The Freshman is the father of all underdog-becomes-hero movie in which the water boy becomes the star of the big game. Also, the Marx Brothers' classic, Horse Feathers, from 1932, is a movie to be cherished by all. It's nonstop Groucho Marx as the president of Huxley College, bound and determined to implement a quick fix for the school's lousy football team. The two "ringers" Groucho winds up with are, of course, Harpo and Chico. Needless to say, hilarity by the bucketsful, ensues.

One of my favorite football movies of all time has got to be Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, and Cuba Gooding Jr., who won an Oscar for his role as "Show Me the Money" wide receiver, Rod Tidwell. While this movie didn't necessarily have me at hello, it did grow on me, particularly the Arizona locales. I've spent a lot of time at Sun Devil Stadium and it was great to see so many familiar locations. In a strange way it kind of made me feel a bit like an insider. I really loved the relationship between Cruise and Gooding Jr., and didn't at all feel like the love story between Cruise and Zellweger detracted at all. There's certainly nothing wrong with a movie that leaves you feeling good about things.

by: Winston Roth

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