February is always a bittersweet time for football fans. We’re only a week away from the Super Bowl, but it’s also time to start confronting a sad reality: the season is almost over. After all, this marks the first weekend in quite some time without a thrilling NFL playoff game going down to a last minute kick.
But as you brace for a long seven months without any new games on TV, it’s a great time to revisit some classic football movies and shows. From goofy comedies to tense thrillers to excellent documentaries, there’s sure to be something for every football fan to stream this offseason. Keep reading for 10 of our favorites.
Any list of the best football movies has to start with “Rudy.” David Anspaugh’s movie hits all of the feel-good tropes you’d expect from a sports movie, without feeling too clichéd or indulgent. Telling the story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger and his lifelong pursuit of playing football at Notre Dame, the film inspires at every turn. It even has the endorsement of the university it takes place at, as it was the first film Notre Dame allowed to film on campus since 1940.
There aren’t many better elevator pitches for tough 1970s movies than “Burt Reynolds playing prison football.” “The Longest Yard” stars the mustachioed sex symbol as a former NFL quarterback who is sentenced to jail time and ends up organizing a team of prisoners to play football against their guards. The film has spawned several remakes, but the original remains an essential viewing experience for football cinema lovers.
One of the most beloved sports movies of all time, “Remember the Titans” follows one coach’s quest to integrate a high school football team in Virginia. Boaz Yakin directs Denzel Washington in one of his most memorable performances as real-life coach Herman Boone. As the football world is currently engulfed in a discussion about racism in the sport, it’s a great time to rewatch this one.
“We Are Marshall” is a tearjerker, but an essential football movie nonetheless. Matthew McConaughey stars as a coach fighting to save the football program after a plane crash killed 37 players on the Marshall University football team. Even if it is occasionally bogged down by sentimentality, the film serves as a beautiful reminder of the way sports can help us cope with tragedy.
If you’re looking to go back to the earliest days of American football, the goofy “Leatherheads” is the movie for you. George Clooney directed and stars in this football comedy about a league trying to stay afloat in 1925. The movie manages to parody football’s brutish origins while still paying tribute to the sport. Clooney’s direction is competent at every turn, and the actor makes a surprisingly strong comedic duo with John Krasinski.
In the midst of his 1990s hot streak, Cameron Crowe came up with one of the best marketing ideas of all time: make a romantic comedy set in the world of sports. “Jerry Maguire” stars Tom Cruise as the titular sports agent, representing Cuba Gooding Jr.’s football star Rod Tidwell. While romance and moral dillemmas occupy more screen time than gridiron action, the film remains as quotable and rewatchable as ever.
It’s hard to imagine better human drama than watching a Super Bowl coach return to the college ranks in an attempt to save his alma mater, which just happens to be the winningest college football program of all time. That’s where “All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines” starts, documenting former San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh’s efforts to revitalize the University of Michigan, where he played quarterback. It provides a compelling inside look at Big 10 football, and a reminder that college football often has stakes that feel just as high as the pros.
Even if sports media has taken a brief hiatus from concussion discourse, corruption continues to take place at the highest levels of the NFL. In the wake of Brian Flores’ earthshattering allegations about racial discrimination and match fixing, it’s a great time to revisit “Concussion,” a prescient look at one of the league’s more recent scandals. Will Smith stars as a forensic pathologist who fights to prevent the league from covering up his research about the dangers players face from concussions. While not as positively reviewed as some other films on this list, it is almost undoubtedly the most timely.
If you need a reminder that it’s never too late to follow your dreams, just remember that Vince Papale was a 30-year-old bartender when he overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve his goal of playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. Mark Wahlberg stars in this true story that avoids much of the cheesiness that bogs down similarly inspirational films.
“Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream” by H.G. Bissinger was first adapted into a movie in 2004. But the story really came to life when it was turned into an NBC series in 2006. As the coach and his wife in a town where high school football means everything, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton anchor an exceptional ensemble cast as the de facto first family of Dillon, Texas. Even someone with absolutely zero interest in football can find a lot to love in this high school drama that has clearly stood the test of time.
