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Top 10 Football Movies views: 7170

Fall: man's favorite season. It's not uncomfortably hot anymore, and when it's rainy or cold, you can always stay inside and watch one of a huge variety of sporting events on TV. Sometimes, though, there isn't a game on. Lucky for you, we've figured out what you should watch if you find yourself stuck in this circumstance. Here are the top 10 football movies or all time.

The criteria to make this list:

The plot of the movie must revolve around football, rather than just featuring a single scene with the sport.

The movie must be good enough that you'd be interested in watching it a second or even third time.
So, without further ado, here are the Top 10 Football Movies.

10.Paper Lion (1968)

Based on George Plimpton's story for Sports Illustrated and his ensuing best-selling book, Paper Lion tells the story of how a 36-year-old Plimpton (played by Alan Alda) joins the Detroit Lions as a third string quarterback, and relates his trials and errors through training camp while attempting to keep his journalist identity a secret. Ultimately, his exploits culminate in him playing in a live scrimmage before thousands of paying fans.

While many claim the book is better, the movie is still outstanding, largely on the strength of Alda's portrayal of Plimpton and the beautiful Lauren Hutton. Despite its dated action, the movie should appeal to football fans thanks to the numerous Detroit Lions of the time who played themselves. The movie helped catapult Lions' tackle Alex Karras (Blazing Saddles) into acting, and also featured appearances by Frank Gifford and the immortal Vince Lombardi.

Memorable quote: "You try the AFL?"
-Vince Lombardi, insulting the supposedly weaker league when compared to the NFL, in which his Packers played.

9.Rudy (1993) Rudy, football movie.

Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin of Lord of the Rings fame) hails from a steel mill town, and has always dreamed of playing football at the University of Notre Dame. Despite being told that he's too small and not having the grades to get in, he heads off to South Bend, Indiana, where he works hard in junior college to gain admission to the University, with the ultimate goal of walking onto the football team. Even with all the obstacles he faces, Rudy so impresses his teammates with his efforts that they force the coach to dress him for the final game of the season.

Based on a true story, Rudy is full of spine-tingling moments that even the most macho guy can appreciate. Dramatic scenes, such as the one where Rudy sacks the opposing quarterback at the end of the game and is carried off the field by his teammates -- amid chants of "Rudy, Rudy" from those in the stands -- make this movie one of the best football flicks of all time. As well, this movie resonates because many people grew up watching nothing but Notre Dame football, and root for Rudy as he lives out their dreams of suiting up for the Fighting Irish.

Memorable quote: "You're 5 foot nothin', 100 and nothin' and you have nearly a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in there with the best college football team in the land for 2 years. And you're gonna walk outta here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this life, you don't have to prove nothin' to nobody but yourself."
-Fortune, to Rudy

8.Any Given Sunday (1999) Any Given Sunday, football movie.

In Oliver Stone's look at professional football, Al Pacino stars as Tony D'Amato, the aging head coach of the fictional Miami Sharks. He has to deal with the team's demanding president/co-owner (Cameron Diaz), a washed-up star quarterback (Dennis Quaid) and the rookie QB in line to replace him (Jamie Foxx).

This movie, which boasts a stellar cast and a long list of former and current NFL personalities as "project consultants," is another in a long line of supposed behind-the-scenes pro sports flicks, only with Oliver Stone's touch. And that means every scene is filled with close-up shots of players in the trenches, revealing locker room sequences and action and sound so incredible that viewers feel like they're right there on the field.

Despite the realism of the individual football scenes, however, many details are missing (such as the fact that teams are given seven points for touchdowns and never kick extra points). Ultimately, while hard-hitting, this movie goes a little over the top in its attempt to show us a side of pro football that we haven't seen -- an idea that isn't so novel in itself, as North Dallas Forty proved (as you'll see on the next page...).

Memorable quote: "On any given Sunday you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. The point is -- can you win or lose like a man?"
-Tony D'Amato

7.Friday Night Lights (2004) Friday Night Lights, football movie.

Before Friday Night Lights was an excellent TV show on NBC, it was an incredible movie. And before that, it was a work of nonfiction published in 1990 by H. G. Bissinger. The movie features one of Billy Bob Thornton's best performances ever, and it's definitely the No. 1 most emotionally moving film on this list.

The film is based on the true story of the 1988 Permian High School football team in Odessa, Texas, and their historic run for the state championships. It's about way more than football -- it's about fear, ambition, the bonds that tie a small town together, and the nature of pressure. Simply outstanding.

6.Remember The Titans (2000)

Like many other football movies, this one is based on a true story. It focuses on coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), who is chosen to coach a Virginia high school football team shortly after the school has been desegregated in the early 1970s. He confronts rampant racism and many white players who threaten to sit out until he is replaced, but eventually guides the team through a season of turmoil to an undefeated record, before tragedy strikes again and Boone is tested to see if he has one more trick in his bag.

A great story, this inspirational film has been screened by NFL teams before games to get the players geared up and inspire camaraderie. Although the onscreen action is sometimes lacking in realism, the slickly-paced narrative takes viewers' minds off that fact. When it comes down to it, if you see this film, you will remember the Titans.

Memorable quote: "We will be perfect in every aspect. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You make a fumble, I will take you and break my John Brown's foot up your ass and then you will run a mile. Perfection."
-Coach Herman Boone

5.The Longest Yard (1974)

Remade into an Adam Sandler vehicle in 2005, the original Longest Yard featured Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, a former pro quarterback serving time in prison. The warden (Eddie Albert) forces him to organize a team of inmates to take on (and get beaten up by) the guards, and then offers him early release if he throws the game.

Football great Ray Nitschke has a role in this comedy/drama, while other former NFL players portray either inmates or guards. The big game scene, and those leading up to it, are full of comedic moments. But this flick is also replete with excellent football scenes from director Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen). Ultimately, the film makes audiences root for the underdog, something to which all sports fans can relate.

Memorable quote: "You could have robbed banks, sold dope or stole your grandmother's pension checks and none of us would have minded. But shaving points off of a football game, man, that's un-American."
-Caretaker to Paul Crewe

4.North Dallas Forty (1979) north dallas forty 1979

Loosely based on the Dallas Cowboys team of the 1970s, the movie provides a look at the life of a pro football player. Phillip Elliott (Nick Nolte) is a North Dallas Bulls wide receiver who is nearing the end of his career, ravaged with injuries and constantly taking medication for his pain. But does the ownership care about his loyalty to the team, or do they merely see him as expendable?

Considered by many to be the best football movie ever made, the film offers viewers a peek inside the seamy life of a professional football player and his team. It gives rabid football fans a chance to see the drugs, violence and sex that go hand in hand with pro football, but are left out by the networks that broadcast the games and the league that markets them. While much of the movie is dated (for example, there are very few black players) and the action scenes are lacking by current standards, the points that North Dallas Forty raises about the difficulties of a football career and the attitude of management toward the players and corporatism in professional sports still resonate today.

Memorable quote: "You had better learn how to play the game, and I don't mean just the game of football."
- Seth Maxwell

3.The Program (1993) the program movie

The college football team at Eastern State University (ESU) brings together students from all over the country, and each carries his own baggage. Joe Kane (Craig Sheffer) has to deal with the hype of being expected to make it to the NFL, while Darnell Jefferson (Omar Epps) comes from the streets and is looking for a break with the team. Coach Sam Winters (James Caan) needs to keep the team together while dealing with his own problems. Welcome to the world of The Program, a fictional but realistic look at a college football team.

This movie reveals everything about college football that the NCAA wants to cover up: drug and alcohol abuse, steroids, players failing courses, boosters handing athletes illegal donations. At the same time, that's what makes the movie so riveting to watch. Although the action scenes are very realistic, the actual game of football becomes secondary to the personal struggles of each player, and the ways in which they bond as a team. The movie even shows players lying in a traffic-filled highway as a way to prove their courage, which forced the studio to recall the movie and delete the sequence because several teenagers had been killed or injured imitating it.

Memorable quote: "I don't know, it's the battle, the going to war with the other guys, hanging together, having our own dorm, staying in hotels the night before the games, setting ourselves apart, being different than everybody else, having a chance to be somebody, to do something that people look up to you for, your strength, your courage, not everybody can play football... we're the lucky ones."
-Steve Lattimer

2.Brian's Song (1971) brians song 1971

Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo -- one black, one white; one the starting tailback, the other the man trying to take his job -- seem as though they'd be unlikely friends. But then, if they weren't, their story wouldn't be the stuff of legends. Brian's Song is about the relationship that forms between two Chicago Bears players, especially after Piccolo discovers he is dying of cancer.

Although this was actually a made-for-TV movie, it's up there on this list thanks to its heart-rending portrayal of the bond that Piccolo (James Caan) and Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) -- and their wives -- develop. A great buddy movie, Brian's Song may be the sappiest movie on the list, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A story this good is sure to move even the most stone-faced dude.

Memorable quote: "I love Brian Piccolo...and tonight, I want you to love him too."
-Gale Sayers, after accepting an award.

1.Knute Rockne, All American (1940) knute rockne all american

This classic movie is a biography of legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne (Pat O'Brien). The film's screenplay was based on private papers held by Rockne's wife and Notre Dame (Rockne died nine years before its release), and the movie itself features old newsreel clips of games, such as those between traditional rivals Notre Dame and Army. The story of the father of the forward pass -- which also features renditions of his inspirational halftime speeches -- is also noteworthy for its non-football sequences.

O'Brien managed to get Rockne's staccato speaking pattern down pat, and his relationship with dying star George "The Gipper" Gipp (Ronald Reagan) makes it the stuff of legends. One of the first football movies ever made, to this day it remains one of only two movies ever filmed on Notre Dame University's campus.

Memorable quote: "Now I'm going to tell you something I've kept to myself for years. (pause) None of you ever knew George Gipp. (pause) He was long before your time, but you all know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame. (pause) And the last thing he said to me, 'Rock,' he said, 'sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. (pause) I don't know where I'll be then, Rock,' he said, 'but I'll know about it and I'll be happy.'"

- Knute Rockne, to his team at halftime of a game against Army. Notre Dame won the game.

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