10 Football Movies To Help You Cope With the Off-Season

Well, the 2020 NFL season wrapped up with Tamba Bay’s decisive victory over the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Tom Brady won his 7th ring and put an end to any doubts that he’s the greatest quarterback in NFL history. If you’re suffering from withdrawals knowing next season is a long 7 months away, we’ve got the perfect solution: why not binge on football movies? Here are 10 that we highly recommend.

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10. All the Right Moves

A movie from early in Tom Cruise’s career, he stars as a Serbian-American high schooler who lives in a rundown, blue-collar factory town in western Pennsylvania. He dreams of landing a college scholarship so that he can pursue a career in engineering, but a big argument with his coach leads him to being kicked off the team. The action on the field isn’t particularly convincing (although this is a problem with most sports movies), but overall it’s a solid story with great acting.

9. The Program

This one provides the audience with a glimpse of life at a big-time college football program (or at least the 80s/90s version of it). The fictional Eastern State University has underperformed in consecutive seasons, and coach Sam Winters (James Caan) finds himself in the hot seat. Cheating on drug tests and academics is the only way to get by. It’s an enjoyable movie, if not a bit over-time top. My personal favorite scene is when the hulking, roid-raging Steve Lattimer (Andrew Bryniarski) celebrates the fact that he’s been named starting defensive end by smashing car windows with his forehead.

8. Undefeated

Unlike the other movies on this list, Undefeated is a documentary. It follows a season of football at Manassas High School in Memphis and how Coach Bill Courtney is able to turn the program around both academically and on the field. It won the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

7. We Are Marshall

This film depicts the aftermath of the real-life 1970 plane crash involving the Marshall University football team, which killed 75 people including 37 players, 5 coaches, and the school’s athletic director. While a lot of football movies focus on a handful of players, this one is truly about the entire team and how they overcome obstacles to return to glory.