Five Football Films to Watch This Saturday

The long wait in between the final play of this year’s Super Bowl and the start of the current season is finally over. The action started with the current holders of the Vince Lombardi trophy entertaining the Detroit Lions at the Arrowhead Stadium with the visitors emerging victorious in a tight-fought 22-21 contest.

This weekend will see even more rip-roaring football action with a number of teams looking to build on their opening weekend success and others hoping to banish that their missteps on opening weekend were down to rustiness and weren’t indicative of a long, hard season to come.

With all this amazing football action to sink our teeth into it almost feels like Christmas for NFL fans, so why not treat it as such? After the main event and festivities are over it’s time to sink back on the couch and relax in front of an engrossing movie and what could be better than a football inspired flick?

In this article we cover five great football films that you should definitely consider watching this Saturday once you’ve finished savouring or lamenting the exploits of your team. Without further ado, here are you five must-watch football films…

Two for the Money (2005)

Gambling has become synonymous with football in recent years following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down PASPA and thus all-but legalise online sports wagering. Nowadays it’s almost impossible to make it through a game without being shown the Super Bowl betting odds or being told about the latest moneyline offers.

Eighteen years ago when this film was released, sports gambling had a much different reputation than the one it does now. Without giving away too much of the plot, Two for the Money is the tale of a college football star who, following a career ending injury, turns to the less than salubrious world of sports gambling to make ends meet.

Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey and Rene Russo all star in this captivating film that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout.

(Two for the Money is perhaps more relevant now than it was when it was first released in 2005.)

Rudy (1993)

One of the reasons that we love sport is because of the way that it encapsulates the struggles of life and provides endless inspirational stories of players and teams who have clutched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Rudy is a 1993 biographical movie that follows the life of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger who aspired to play college football for the University Of Notre Dame. Every step of the way Rudy finds his path blocked by a series of obstacles, but the film is the tale of how, time and time again he finds a way to overcome them.

Remember the Titans (2000)

A lot of lame things came out in 2000 but Remember the Titans wasn’t one of them, in fact it’s still probably one of the best sports films to have come out this century. It tells the true story of Herman Boone, a black football coach who was appointed head coach of the T.C. Williams High School in the 1970s.

Unlike other coaches, Boone didn’t just have to overcome issues on the field he also had to overcome the incredibly challenging and complex racial issues that surrounded the team and encapsulated the time period.

His story is not just inspirational but also serves as a reminder that the racial tensions of the past were not so long ago after all.

(The best sports movie of the past 23 years, without a shadow of a doubt!)

Friday Night Lights (2004)

How many times have you sat and screamed at the TV because a player on your team has dropped the ball or made a mistake? If you’re anything like us you’ve done that thousands of times, but something we always forget when we criticise players is that they are human just like you and me and are going to make mistakes.

Friday Night Lights is a film that will make you think differently the next time a player on your team makes a mistake as this movie explores the enormous pressure and emotional turmoil that high school players, let alone NFL players, are placed under.

Any Given Sunday (1999)

How could we get to the end of this article without mentioning the Holy Grail of not just football films, but of sports movies altogether?

Honestly we don’t even have to say that much about this movie other than to leave you with the famous Inches speech that will not only get you in the mood to watch the film but to run through walls for Tony D’Amato.

(“Either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals.”)