Favorite sports films: American football

I figured this can be built into multiple categories because there are so many sports films out there that if I were to just have one list encapsulating all sports, I would miss some that I really like or it would be way too long. So I'll probably end up doing more than one of these for several divisions or at least 3 for football, hockey, and basketball. Maybe one other one for all other sports combined. We'll see. I'll take it as it comes.

Anyway, let's get in there and have a look at my favorite football movies of all time.

Any Given Sunday

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A football film starring Al Pacino, Jamee Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Charlton Heston, James Woods, and is directed by Oliver Stone? Yes please!

It is a little bit lame that the team names are fake but the NFL doesn't really license any films to use their likeness very often. I can understand why they would not be interested in touching this film with "real" teams since a lot of it is about exposing the dark underbelly of the sport such as drug use and how the teams will do whatever it takes to win, even at the expense of the health of their own players. I don't think you even need to appreciate football a great deal to like this 1999 classic. IT's entertaining from start to finish and even though I have seen it multiple times I gladly return to it time and time again.

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Remember the Titans

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This one perhaps is more impacting than other films out there because it is a true story. It also is about racial integration that was occurring for the first time across the United States in the late 60's and early 70's and how some communities, such as the one in this film, were not real keen on mixing whites and blacks in the same school. Football teams were no exception and white kids were very hesitant to listen to a black coach, which was played by the always awesome Denzel Washington. You also get to see a quite young (it was 21 years ago) Ryan Gosling playing a teenager and Ryan was not terribly famous (yet) at that point.

This one is a must see, perhaps even moreso than the first.

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The Blind Side

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This one is a bit more recent and probably something that most people have heard of and even seen given the amount of attention that Sandra Bullock received for her award-winning performance in this tear-jerker of a true film. It is about the life of Michael Oher, a gigantic black man with a gentle soul who is taken in by the wealthy Tuohy family and eventually adopted by them. Through their guidance and compassion Michael Oher becomes one of the best football players in the state and eventually marks out a wonderful life for himself despite the fact that his upbringing that he had before meeting the Tuohys was a path heading towards crime and poverty.

This film received harsh criticism from the usual whining "everything is racist" community because it depicts a black boy who is helped out of a crime ridden life by a white family. The fact that the story is true doesn't seem to matter very much to these critics.

I guarantee you shed a tear or two when you watch this movie and once again, it is one of those films that I want to watch despite having seen it many times.

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Others of note (I'm not gonna make this 2000 words long

• Rudy: Samwise from Lord of the Rings plays an unlikely hero for Notre Dame (true story)
• We are Marshall: A true story of how an entire team died in a plane crash and had to be replaced quickly and they managed to pull it off. Marshall is still a decent football team to this day

So if you like sports films and for some reason have managed to not see these films and aren't some wierdo with a chip on your shoulder towards American football, I say get out there and see these. They are NOT all available on Netflix but I am sure you know how to get stuff by other means.