The sport of football has created many legends. From loss to triumph and despair to redemption, the sport can touch on many facets of real life. But in sports cinema, which football films, based on true stories, are the best?
In this case, truth is better than fiction, and real-life drama plays out on the field and in the personal lives of the players of the game.
The list below will give you the greatest gridiron movies that were based on real, actual stories.
North Dallas Forty
This film from 1979 featured a football team tightly based on a very real, and very popular squad from that decade, the Dallas Cowboys. That makes sense considering the source material came from a semiautobiographical novel by a former Dallas Cowboy, Peter Gent. But overall, the finished product was a more wide-ranging take on pro football as a whole, using a clever blend of comedy, drama, and satire to drive the plot.
The movie practically did what the football film Any Given Sunday had done, just 20 years earlier. Viewers will see everything from drug abuse to adultery, and malicious insubordination to all-out corruption. It was complimented as being ahead of its time, receiving rave reviews after its release. But it certainly drew the ire of the National Football League, who gave no endorsement or cooperation with the film’s production, claiming the movie didn’t truly reflect the environment of pro football.
Brian’s Song
We got the quote, “There’s no crying in baseball!”, from the 1992 film A League of Their Own, but for a game that’s often viewed as a vicious, hard-hitting battle between warriors, a few tears in football are also pretty damn scarce. But in this 1971 made-for-TV movie, the true story of Hall of Fame Chicago Bear Gale Sayers and his teammate Brian Piccolo will surely get the waterworks flowing by the end credits.
The audience sees firsthand how an unlikely friendship flourishes through racial strife and the unexpected acceptance of mortality. Billy Dee Williams (Sayers) and James Caan (Piccolo) provide more than enough emotion and humanity in their respective roles to make this film an easy pick not just for this list, but for any “guy-cry” compilation.
Remember The Titans
This classic from 2000, is one of the best overall sports films of the modern era. It stars the iconic Denzel Washington as head coach Herman Boone, who leads the T.C. Williams High School Titans through a stark environment of racial tensions in the school’s town.
Boone unabashedly fosters a culture of tolerance and inclusivity among the initially divided roster of white and black players. As the story progresses, they learn to band together and play as one “family.” And let’s not leave out that it’s a Disney movie, so your emotions are sure to be touched during the course of the film.
Rudy
Another pick that will surely pull at your heartstrings is the 1993 classic Rudy. This movie tells the inspiring story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, an unlikely member of the most storied college football team in the land, Notre Dame.
Sean Astin portrays the title character as he overcomes the mounting disappointments associated with being an undoubtedly undersized athlete, just trying to live out his dream of playing for the Fighting Irish. There’s a lot of buildup throughout the majority of the film, but the payoff is surely powerful and encouraging to even the most casual sports fan or movie viewer.
Concussion
A few years after the NFL made headlines off the field during their 2011 concussion scandal, the 2015 film Concussion was released in response to the heightened awareness around a now well-known disease. Will Smith starred as embattled Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who was the most notable name to have diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former professional athletes.
The film received mixed reviews, but above all brought attention to the sport’s long-term damage that a wide range of society could see apart from just a report on the evening news. Despite the depiction of actual former NFL players, the league didn’t necessarily cooperate with the production of the film. but they wouldn’t need to anyhow since all the facts were already available to the public.
Any Given Sunday
Iconic director Oliver Stone helmed this 1999 sports drama about a volatile and troubled pro football team who are facing numerous issues on and off the field. Legendary, award-winning actor Al Pacino plays the embattled head coach who is at the center of the movie’s plot as he faces intense pressure from his team’s owner, played by Cameron Diaz, and his hot-shot, rebel-like quarterback, played by Oscar winner, Jamie Foxx.
This movie was done in the same capacity as another pick on this list, North Dallas Forty, playing out as sort of a “pulse on pro football.” While this movie doesn’t depict anything regarding the real NFL, it’s pretty clear that his film was indeed based largely on pro football. He cast a number of then-current and retired football players, several of whom are Hall of Famers, to add to the realism he was trying to convey to the audience. And just like North Dallas Forty, the NFL wanted no part of this project.
American Underdog
This 2021 biopic is about pro football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner’s very unlikely but inspiring rise from being a grocery store stockboy, all the way to becoming a Super Bowl champion. Throughout the course of the film, you’ll see Warner’s progress as a backup with the St. Louis Rams, to becoming one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of the modern era.
Portraying Warner is Zachary Levi, who makes an honorable transition from being the whimsical superhero in Shazam to a heartwarming hero who achieves his lifelong dream of playing football. And it’s all thanks largely to the concepts of spirituality and family.
Radio
Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as James Robert Kennedy in another heartwarming and inspiring entry on this list. Based on a 1996 Sports Illustrated article titled “Someone to Lean On“, the 2003 movie centers around “Radio,” his given nickname, as he and a local high school football coach (played by Ed Harris) teach the neighbors in their town the importance of tolerance and acceptance.
In the film, “Radio” was also shown to have spent time with the school’s basketball team. However, he seemed to make more of an impact on his community during the football season, as depicted in both the movie and in real life.
We Are Marshall
This film from 2006 stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, the man who was willed into taking over head coaching duties for the Marshall University football team. Lengyel takes on the extremely difficult task of leading the team after the program lost its previous players and coaching staff in a plane crash.
The film passionately touches on resiliency in the face of tragedy all throughout its duration. After its release, the movie received mostly positive reviews and became one of McConaughey’s more well-known performances over the last couple of decades.
The Express: The Ernie Davis Story
This pick is about Syracuse University football legend Ernie Davis’ historic journey to become the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award. Actor Rob Brown beautifully portrayed Davis’ struggle through the civil rights era and how that played out in college athletics.
However, the legend of fellow Syracuse athlete and Hall of Fame football player Jim Brown caused this story to go relatively unknown in modern sports history. Unfortunately, the story wasn’t received very well as shown through a lackluster box office turnout after the film’s release in 2008.
Invincible
This pick here chronicles the real-life story of Philadelphian Vince Papale, a common citizen who gets a chance to try out for his hometown Eagles. Mark Wahlberg stars as the centerpiece of this inspiring 2006 drama that definitely tugs at even the manliest of men’s heartstrings.
Invincible does a great job of showing the audience that you can achieve anything your heart desires. Specifically, Wahlberg also puts in a positive performance that does take a few moments to believe once you get past the fact that in real life, Wahlberg’s a passionate New England Patriots fan.
Friday Night Lights
High school football on a Friday night is just as common in Texas as 10-gallon hats and country music. And the 2004 sports drama, Friday Night Lights shows audiences just how passionately ingrained the sport is into the Lone Star State.
The film is based on the non-fiction book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, about the 1988 Permian High School Panthers, a team that bands together through adversity on their way to success. The movie was so groundbreaking that an NBC drama series of the same name came to pass two years later.
Whether you end up laughing, crying, or inspired enough to throw on pads and a helmet to take on a bunch of linebackers, these football films are certain winners, guaranteed to entertain.