The Best Football Movies Ever Made

This comedy stars Goldie Hawn as Molly McGrath, the daughter of a famous football coach who gets more than she bargains for when she leaves her comfortable job as a girls’ track coach at an affluent high school to head an inner city football team in Chicago.

After a Texas college football team is banned from playing for a season and all but one of its players expelled, the school rushes to put together a new makeshift team from the general student body – to hilarious results.

Small-town college football hero Gavin Grey seems to have a bright future in the NFL. However, the realities of the fierce competitiveness and grueling schedule get the better of him and he struggles to find a new purpose in life.

Based on a true story, this film follows 11-year-old Jasmine Plummer, who with the encouragement of her uncle becomes the first female quarterback to play in the Pop Warner football league.

In this remake of a 1974 film (see No. 9), a disgraced former NFL quarterback ends up in prison and is approached by the warden to put together a team of inmates to play a big game against the sadistic prison guards.

High school football player Stefen Djordjevic dreams of escaping his dying Pennsylvania steel town by getting a college football scholarship. However, when his relationship with his coach sours, his prospects begin to crumble.

When a hotshot quarterback finds out he has an 8-year-old daughter, he falls short in his attempts to be a father – but his new daughter’s bravery keeps him on his toes and drives the relationship forward despite the odds.

Based on a true story, this film portrays how high school football coach Bob Ladouceur’s unique approach led the De La Salle High School Spartans of Concord, California, to set a new national record for the longest winning streak in high school football history.

When a self-important Pee-wee Football coach rejects his own niece during tryouts, she and her gang of misfit friends form their own team with her dad as the coach. The teams, headed by rival brothers, must now face off to decide which will represent the town in the state playoffs.

“The Waterboy” follows a naive young man who, despite his social ineptitude, goes from being the waterboy for a college football team to a feared linebacker – against the wishes of his comically overprotective mother.

When a Christian high school football coach faces the prospect of termination after his team loses six consecutive seasons, he and his players must overcome their own personal obstacles and learn to rely on God to achieve their goals on and off the field.

A satire on the self-help movement, this film incorporates a parody of a popular ’70s transformation seminar as it portrays a love triangle between two football players and their roommate, Barbara Jane, who is also their coach’s daughter.

Inspired by the story of the 1987 NFL strike, “The Replacements” follows a ragtag group of substitute football players who are brought in to finish the season for a striking professional team.

In a small, football-obsessed Texas town, the members of the high school football team struggle to live up to everyone’s expectations, especially those of their verbally abusive coach, whose life and philosophy center around winning at all costs.

“Radio” is a semi-biographical film about James “Radio” Kennedy, a young man with intellectual disabilities who sparks a friendship with the local high school football coach, begins assisting at football practice, and becomes a beloved member of the community.

When a private investigator’s witness is murdered, he teams up with her boyfriend, an ex-quarterback, and uncovers a web of corruption involving a crooked politician and a pro-football team.

An All-American college football team, led by talented QB Joe Kane, is under pressure to win against their rival school while simultaneously struggling with their studies, their families, and the temptations of alcohol and steroids.

On the day of the NFL Draft, the general manager of the Cleveland Browns frantically trades for the No. 1 pick, while managing the pressures of ownership, family, and his own team.

A struggling pro football team gets a second chance at glory when two quarterbacks are injured and their third-string proves to be a powerhouse. Along the way, their coach must face his future prospects amidst a power struggle with the team’s new owner.

At a juvenile detention center, counselor Sean Porter forms a football team from a group of troubled kids, teaching them the value of teamwork and discipline while they compete in a league before heading back out onto the streets of L.A.

When a Jewish teen from a working class family is accepted into a prestigious New England prep school because of his football prowess, he quickly becomes friends with the school’s star athletes – but tensions rise when his heritage comes to light.

“We Are Marshall” is based on the tragedy of the 1970 Marshall University football team, most of whom were killed in a devastating plane crash. The film follows a surviving player and the new coach as they work to rebuild the team.

When terrorists plan to infiltrate a packed stadium during the Super Bowl with the aim of blowing up a blimp over the crowd, two counter-terrorism experts must race against time to foil the plot.

Based on the 2009 exposé “Game Brain” by Jeanne Marie Laskas, “Concussion” details the work of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American pathologist who fights against the National Football League’s denial of a link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Inspired by the story of four best friends and New England Patriots fans who would do anything to meet Tom Brady, this comedy follows a group of spirited older women as they win tickets to the Super Bowl and run into numerous obstacles on their way there.

Based on the life of college football star Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, “The Express” follows Davis from his childhood to his years at Syracuse University, where he led the team to a national championship in 1960 despite the racism he faced both on and off the field.

Lucas, a shy and awkward 14-year-old, finds solace in books, daydreaming, and his friendship with the school’s star football player. When he develops a crush on the new girl in town, Lucas joins the football team to win her attention.

“Invincible” is based on the story of Vince Papale, a struggling 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who became an unlikely member of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976 after the team’s new coach held an open tryout.

Inspired by the youth of NFL player Tony Nathan, “Woodlawn” follows a high school football team in Birmingham, Alabama, as they struggle to come together in the wake of desegregation, until the power of their faith unites them.

A satire on the excesses of the world of professional football in the ’70s, “North Dallas Forty” follows a wide receiver who relies on painkillers, as his rebellious demeanor threatens his future in the game.

“Heaven Can Wait” is a comedy-fantasy about a Los Angeles Rams quarterback who, after being mistakenly taken to heaven, fights to prove he still has life left in him and is returned to Earth in the body of a murdered millionaire.

The sadistic warden of a Texas penitentiary asks an incarcerated former football star to assemble a team of convicts to play against the prison guards – only to inform him that his freedom hinges on the inmates losing the match.

“Greater” follows the dedication of walk-on college football player Brandon Burlsworth, as he perseveres through ridicule about his weight to become one of the best players his team has ever seen – only to be killed in a car crash 11 days after being drafted into the NFL.

Based on the 2006 book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis, this film details the youth of NFL player Michael Oher, a homeless teenager taken in by a wealthy family who eventually become his legal guardians.

When sports agent Jerry Maguire has a crisis of conscience, he writes a mission statement vowing to put clients first. He soon finds himself on his own and must fight to save his career and relationships, including his romance with a single mother.

“Friday Night Lights” follows the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team from the economically depressed and racially divided town of Odessa, Texas, as they compete for the state championship with the hopes of the whole town riding on their shoulders.

Born in a steel mill town, Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite having low grades, no money for college, and a diminutive physique. Determined to follow his dreams, however, he works tirelessly to make it onto the team.

“Remember the Titans” details the racial integration of a Virginia high school in 1971 through the lens of the school’s football team as the Black head coach and white defensive coordinator work together for the good of the team and urge the boys to overcome their differences.

Harold Lamb, a naive college student, will do anything to be popular and win the love of his crush, including becoming the football team’s new tackling dummy and water boy.

Barbs fly in this screwball comedy as the new president of Huxley College tries to enlist some professional football players to help his team win a big game, but mistakenly hires two bumbling bootleggers.