The 10 Best Football Movies of All Time

1. Any Given Sunday (1999)

Any Given Sunday features a professional football legend and quarterback Cap Rooney (Dennis Quaid) who is knocked out of the game and replaced by a player called Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx), a young, unknown third-string teammate.

Beaman takes the opportunity of what may be his last chance and shines on the field with his athleticism. His team, the Miami Sharks, used to be the best team in the game but now they are struggling with the loss of teammates, attendance sinking, and football players aging out. 

There’s a lot of tension with the young president and co-owner of the team, meanwhile, the head coach (a brilliant Al Pacino), struggles with a failing marriage and estranged children as he tries to get his team back to winning ways. 

Any Given Sunday is really about the fraternity of football players and how aging players deal with the end of their careers that inevitably comes. The intensity is there on the screen and leaves you with a good old-fashioned moral: winning may be important but it is not as important as how you play the game.

2. Remember The Titans (2000)

Remember the Titans is a sports film biography based on the true story of a black coach, Herman Boone (Denzil Washington), who is eventually promoted to head coach instead of white coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton). 

Herman is hesitant at first but sees what it means to the black community that he’s in such an esteemed position. Yoast is offered an assistant coach position but doesn’t want to take it. 

When the team threatens to boycott, he reluctantly accepts. The team goes through racial bias but doesn’t lose a single game, meanwhile gaining community support. 

Before the state semi-finals, it becomes apparent that the game is rigged and Yoast threatens to expose everyone. The Titans proceed on and win the game. This infuriates the chairman that wanted Boone to lose his job but Yoast holds firm. The Titans go on to win the championships in a beautiful and powerful film. 

3. The Program (1993)

The Program is an American drama released in 1993 that touches on the (fictional) division college football team, ESU, as they deal with the pressure to make a Bowl game.

Tied in with alcohol, anabolic steroid abuse, improper benefits, and overall college life, it follows the trials of coach Sam Winters (James Cann) and key players Joe Kane (Craig Sheffer), Darnell Jefferson (Omar Epps), and other team members. 

Kane struggles with the pressure that is placed on him and resorts to drinking. The coach also has all these problems to deal with on his team such as the drinking and accusations of drug use. 

He’s eventually able to pull the team through the season and then the movie starts to focus more on the love interests. At the end of the movie, you may find yourself rooting for ESU but also thinking the school should shut down the football program in general.

4. Varsity Blues (1999)

When a backup quarterback is chosen to lead a Texas football team to victory after their star quarterback is injured, we see how teenage athletes respond to the almost impossible pressures that are placed on them. 

Football is king in the small town of Canaan. The head coach, Kilmer (a crusty Jon Voight), is not someone to idolize, encouraging the team to “win at all costs.” The QB, Mox (James Van Der Beek), is dealing with an insane amount of pressure from the entire town, the coach, and his peers. 

Kilmer’s lack of concern for his players leads to injuries on and off the field. He eventually assaults Mox, causing the team to refuse to take the field during one game. Without Kilmer’s guidance and Mox’s instead, the team goes on to win the game and the district championship. 

It’s a movie that shows how toxic some sporting environments can be and how important the human side of the game is. 

5. Friday Night Lights (2004)

Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama movie that was released in 2004. It follows the coach and players of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas. The town of Odessa has an unwavering love for its football team and will accept nothing but success. 

After losing a few games and sustaining injuries, the team finds themselves in a three-way tie for first place. They are successful in the playoffs and make it to the state championship games.

The team is initially overwhelmed by the size of the opponents they are facing and falls behind in the first half. They mount a comeback in the second half to pull within one score. Throughout the game, the defense is improving its tackling and the offense pulls through despite the injuries they’re dealing with. With seconds remaining they seemingly win the game, but a holding penalty is called and they lose.

The movie ends with a statement that they were undefeated the following year. It gives us hope that despite losing a massive part of you, you can still go through more pain and overcome anything.

6. We Are Marshall (2006)

We Are Marshall is a historical drama about the famous Marshall University football team. It shows us the aftermath of a plane crash that killed 75 people, 35 of which were football players for Marshall University. 

The film covers the rebuilding of the program after the loss and the healing the community goes through. The president of the university is getting ready to indefinitely suspend the football program but is dissuaded by the pleas of the campus, community, and football players who didn’t make the flight. 

Despite losing a lot of prospects to a rival school, they manage to build a team fast. Due to their lack of experience, they end up losing their first game. The loss sits heavy on the team but they triumph through to win against Xavier University when they go to their first home game of the season.

It’s a brilliant film about how you can triumph through adversity. It also features a great cast that includes Matthew McConaughy, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, David Stratham, and Ian McShane. 

7. The Longest Yard (1974)

The Longest Yard is a classic American prison sports comedy based on a true story of a former NFL player who finds himself in prison playing football with the inmates in a game against guards. 

Burt Reynolds stars as Paul Crewe, a former football star who finds himself in prison after being involved in a police chase. At first, Crewe is shunned by the other inmates due to the way he was dismissed from the NFL for point shaving, but when the football-mad warden decides he wants Crewe’s to coach a team of prisoners against the guards in an exhibition match, they all want to be involved. 

Hilarity ensues as the guards take on the cons, with the film having a happy ending. This classic football movie was remade by Adam Sandler in 2005, although the original remains the best.  

8. The Replacements (2000)

The Washington Sentinels are going through their football season and approaching the play-offs fast but then they go on strike. The strike is a disaster for the fans and owners of the team. The cheerleaders also leave in sympathy for the football players

The owner of the Washington Sentinels, Edward O’Neil, is scrambling for a solution and brings in a legendary coach, Jimmy McGinty. He employs McGinty to get together a team of replacement players in a week. 

McGinty gets together a mismatched team of outsiders that have been waiting for this second chance their entire life. The Replacements is a slap-happy entertainment movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously while being hugely entertaining. The cast isn’t bad either, with Gene Hackman, Keanu Reeves, Brooke Langton, and Keith David.

9. Rudy (1993)

Rudy is a movie that resonates with a lot of people who feel like they are the little person and are overlooked by those people who are more popular or bigger. Rudy Ruettiger is wanting to play football at the Norte Dame University but doesn’t have the money or the grades to qualify. 

He ends up getting tired of working at the steel mill where his father worked after his best friend dies in a tragic accident there. Rudy, suffering from dyslexia, eventually gains admission to Notre Dame thanks to help from his mentor and friend, D-Bob. 

The movie covers a lot of different things but the most powerful moment in the movie is when you realize the power of your faith. The performances are beautiful, and the characters are well developed. Rudy is one of those tales of beating the odds which hits all the right emotional buttons.

10. The Waterboy (1998)

Adam Sandler in The Waterboy is not only hilarious but the movie is full of heart-warming moments and brilliant performances. This American sports comedy film was directed by Frank Coraci.

The main character that Sandler plays is Bobby Boucher, a socially inept and stuttering 31-year-old mentally challenged man that is the waterboy for the University of Louisiana football program. Bobby lives at home with his overly religious and overprotective mother, Helen. Bobby is fired from the team, with Cougars’ head coach claiming he was disruptive. 

Bobby eventually gets on the Louisiana State University Mud Dogs team and is hired as the waterboy. Bobby is bullied by the team and when the head coach notices, he tells Bobby to stand up for himself. When Bobby finally does, he ends up tackling the teams’ quarterback and knocks him out. 

Coach Klein wants him to play on the team and even though he approaches his mom to let him play on the team, she declines because she believes it’s too dangerous. Klein eventually convinces Bobby to play without telling his mom. The team goes on a winning streak and Bobby builds up confidence in his newfound role.