Portal:American football/Selected film

Portal:American football/Selected film/1
The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Adam Sandler plays the protagonist, Paul Crewe, a disgraced former professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, who is forced to form a team from the prison inmates to play football against their guards.

Burt Reynolds, who played Adam Sandler's role in the original, plays a major role as Nate Scarborough, the head coach and a former Heisman Trophy winner for Oklahoma in 1955, and Chris Rock as Crewe's cell neighbor and friend known as Caretaker. The ensemble supporting cast includes James Cromwell, Nelly, William Fichtner and several former and current professional athletes such as Terry Crews (NFL), Michael Irvin (NFL), Brian Bosworth (NFL), Bill Romanowski (NFL), Bill Goldberg (NFL, WCW/WWE), Bob Sapp (NFL, MMA) , Kevin Nash (Euro League Basketball, WCW/WWE), Stone Cold Steve Austin (ECW/WCW/WWE/, college football at North Texas State University), and Dalip "The Great Khali" Singh Rana (WWE).

The film was released in North America by Paramount Pictures and worldwide by Columbia Pictures (the latter of which has released the majority of Sandler's films since the early 2000s).

Read more

Portal:American football/Selected film/2
Brian's Song is a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week that recounts the details of the life of Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan), a Wake Forest University football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro, told through his friendship with Chicago Bears running back teammate and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams), who helps him through the difficult struggle. The production was such a success on ABC television (November 30, 1971) that it was later shown in theaters, Thomas, Bob, with a major premiere in Chicago; however, it was soon withdrawn due to a lack of business. Many critics have called the movie one of, if not the finest telefilm ever made.

The movie is based on Sayers' account of his friendship with Piccolo and coping with Piccolo's illness in Sayers' autobiography, I Am Third. The film was written by veteran screenwriter William Blinn, whose script, one Dallas television critic called, "highly restrained, steering clear of any overt sentimentality [yet conveying] the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other."

Although based on a true story, the film did include some fictional scenes. One example was when George Halas (played by Jack Warden) told Gale Sayers that he wanted to bench Brian Piccolo when he suspected that there may be a problem affecting his performance. He later learned of Brian's cancer. In reality, Jim Dooley was the head coach at that time, as Halas had retired from the position following the 1968 season.

Read more

Portal:American football/Selected film/3
Rudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. It was the first movie which the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940.

In 2005, Rudy was named one of the best 25 sports movies of the previous 25 years in two polls by ESPN (#24 by a panel of sports experts, and #4 by espn.com users). It was ranked the 54th-most inspiring film of all time in the "AFI 100 Years" series.

The film was released on October 13, 1993, by TriStar Pictures. It stars Sean Astin as the title character, along with Ned Beatty, Jason Miller and Charles S. Dutton. The script was written by Angelo Pizzo, who created Hoosiers (1986). The film was shot in Illinois and Indiana.

Portal:American football/Selected film/5
Portal:American football/Selected film/5

Portal:American football/Selected film/6
Portal:American football/Selected film/6