The Best Football Movies of All Time

I’m going to be upfront and honest. I’m not a big Football fan. Don’t get me wrong, I like it! I watch the odd NFL game, always watch the Super Bowl, been to a few Argo and Tie Cat games, and enjoy watching college Football, but over all i’m a true hockey loving Canadian. With all of that said, I still love me some Football cinema! Here is a list of my favorite Football movies of all time!

Waterboy

Other than the fact that the scientific inaccuracies of this movie have gotten me into trouble (“medulla oblongata is where anger, jealousy and aggression come from”….. wrong! It really controls functions such as breathing, digestion and heart rate), the pure Adam Sandler silliness shines through with this comedy great.

Waterboy is about a young boy Bobby (Sandler) who is the waterboy for a team with the worst winning record in the world. Bobby is a ‘mommas boy’ who would never hurt anyone, but it is revealed that when pushed too far, he has incredible tackling power on the field! Waterboy is basically a coming of age movie, using Football as the tool and Adam Sandler as the retarded man-child.

The Replacements

Keanu Reeves gets a lot of hate for some of his roles, but he was a surprisingly good cast as the the new star quarterback.

The Replacements begins with the Washington Sentinels going on strike. Shane Falco (Reeves) is a former Football hotshot who messed up one game way back, and now cleans the hulls of boats for a living. Falco, along with a team of other misfit players become the temporary replacements for the Washington players on strike – and win the hearts of the fans.

Friday Night Lights

Odessa, Texas, is a small, town in Texas. Racially divided and economically dying, there is one night that gives the town something to live for: Friday Night. After a star player Boobie (Derek Luke) suffers a career ending injury in the first game of the season, Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton!) must now lead the team to a comeback season, because they may never matter this much for the rest of their lives.

The Longest Yard (2005)

Another Sandler Movie. I decided to include the 2005 remake over the 1974 original simply because I felt that more people would have seen the Sandler version now.

Paul Crewe (Sandler) is a star quarterback in the NFL, but accused of shaving points off a game, is not the most popular guy in the league anymore. After a night of drinking and driving, he is arrested and sent to the Allenville Penitentiary in Texas, a penitentiary where the warden (James Cromwell) LOVES Football. Next thing you know, Paul Crewe is leading a team of convicts against the Warden’s team of Guards in a Football showdown.

Remember the Titans

I think that this is the first Football movie I’ve ever seen. Starring Denzel Washington as Coach Herman Boone, this is a truly emotional and political Football movie.

Suburban Virginia schools have been segregated for generations, but under federal mandate, students of one black school are forced to integrate with another all white school. Now for the first time ever, there is an interracial football team. Based on the actual events of 1971, the team becomes the unifying symbol for the community as the boys and the adults learn to depend on and trust each other, and overcome to adversary of racism and prejudice from other all white schools.

Honorable Mentions

Rudy, The Comebacks, Invincible (haven’t seen this yet, so couldn’t put it on the list).