Nothing gets me more in the mood to cheer for my small town college team than settling in to watch a classic football film.
I was raised on football season, knowing our weekends were going to be dedicated to the field. Friday nights were for bundling up at my sister's high school, which would later be my own, and watching those homegrown boys take the field with dreams of a college career in the game. Saturday's were for watching South Carolina's main universities battle it out over the pigskin. Sunday's were for the pro games -- the ones who endured the cold in high school, who played on those September Saturdays, and are now making a living by being on the field.
But the individual players who have taken over my weekend every Fall season have stories of their own.
As Autumn approached, I knew it was time to get out those classic DVD's that reflected heart felt stories of what it takes to be a player under the field lights. Sure, Hollywood may over dramatize such testimonies, but there is something about the magic of film that can bring to life the boys of Fall that you can't experience by watching from the stands.
Here are my top three classic favorite football films that have only furthered my love for the game.
1. Remember the Titans
Released in 2000, Remember the Titans follows the story of Alexandria, Virginia, a racially divided small town that lives for football season -- that is if their players are all white. It is 1971 and Herman Boone, an African American football coach, brings together a racially divided team with a dominant personality and a desired respect for his players. Teammates Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell form a brotherhood amongst themselves and their fellow players that outlast any racial drawbacks when suddenly their team is truly tested when one of their own gets in a car accident, keeping him from playing the game he loves the most. Each player for the Titans have a unique personality that allows the viewer to be both heartbroken for the difficulties of their racial backgrounds and delighted by their hope for equality.
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2. We Are Marshall
Based on a true story, We Are Marshall was released in 2006 and told the story of life after the 1970 plane crash that killed 37 of Marshall University's football team, two athletic trainers, five coaches, the athletic director, 25 boosters, and five of the plane's crew members. After contemplating ridding of the entire football program, the university's president hires a new coach, Jack Lengyel. With a few of the remaining players who didn't make the flight including Nate Ruffin and a surviving coach, Red Dawson, Coach Lengyel gets creative and builds a varsity team in the wake of tragedy. With a realistic rough start to the season, the coaches endure the troubles of being stuck in mourning while still trying to honor the past players. The team begins to unite after an intimate speech led by Coach Lengyel at the resting place of six of Marshall's victims who's bodies could not be identified. The site of the six unidentified players would later become the resting place for Nate Ruffin when he passes at the age of 51.
3. Friday Night Lights
Adapted from the 2004 film, Friday Night Lights became a TV series in 2006 that followed the new coach of the Dillon Panthers in Dillon, Texas, Eric Taylor. During the first game of the season, locally famous quarterback Jason Street tackles a player headfirst due to improper training and suffers from a traumatic spinal injury. Street is now a paraplegic and loses his hope of having a normal life, playing college ball, and marrying his high school sweetheart, Lyla Garrity. Street's best friend, Tim Riggins, struggles with coming face to face with his injured teammate and avoids it until the last minute when Street confronts Riggins from his hospital bed. The show consists of five seasons and follows the relationships that have been faced with rough lows and peeking highs that makes small town Dillon more than just the players on the field and the family and friends in the stands.
Satisfy your craving of the sweet smell of freshly painted grass, the business of the concession stands, and the shaking of the stands after a touch down by indulging in these football must-haves. I guarantee that you will be counting down the hours until kick off.
