Movies you can stream now to get your football fix
Welp, it’s over.
While the New England Patriots Super Bowl Parade brought us Rob Gronkowski doing Rob Gronkowski things, it also brought us a very sad realization: meaningful football won’t be around for another seven months. Every year, football fans reach the highest of highs with the Super Bowl only to come down to a crushing depression that hits almost as hard as Kam Chancellor.
Some may suffer through the agony of needing to watch baseball, basketball or hockey to get their sport fix, but they don’t have to put themselves through that special kind of hell.
There are plenty of options for football-starved fans on streaming platforms if they start having gridiron withdrawal. It may not be the real thing, but at least all the elements are there: the humanity of these football players, great comeback stories, and, of course, a lot of hitting.
Here are football movies you can stream online right now.
We all have that one buddy that we watch the game with that says, “I could make that play.” Disney tells the true story of how one lucky fan actually did it. Mark Wahlberg stars as Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender who made the Philadelphia Eagles roster from 1976-1978 after an open tryout held by the team. While most couch quarterbacks will never sniff an NFL field, the movie gives hope that it at least could happen.
Available on: Netflix
For a day at least, the prisoners ran the prison. The original 1974 film starring Burt Reynolds (and his mustache) follows a team of prisoners who get a chance to fight back against the guards who abuse them. NFL Hall of Famer Ray Nitschke headlines a group of real-life football stars that appear in this ragtag football comedy.
Available on: HBO
A former college coach inherits a struggling football of misfits in the birthplace of the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame: Canton, Ohio. This tale of teamwork is perfect for youth football players itching to go back to the field.
Available on: Netflix
Former Texas Longhorn Freddie Steinmark patrolled the defensive backfield on the 1969 National Championship team, but his impact off the field would be far greater. My All-American takes a look into Steinmark’s battle with cancer just days after winning the championship. Don’t watch this film without a tissue nearby.
Available on: Netflix
It doesn’t get much better than Oliver Stone’s allegory of professional football. The politics, the infighting, the success. It’s all there. If you want a star-powered film with Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, with cameo appearances from Dick Butkus, Emmitt Smith, Terrell Owens and other football giants, look no further than Any Given Sunday.
Available on: HBO
Seeing is believing, except in the case of Travis Freeman. Inspired by the true story of a Kentucky teen, 23 Blast follows the journey of an average teenager from the Blue Grass State who overcomes anything but average obstacles to live his football dreams after losing his sight. Not a bad movie for young sports fans who need that extra push to break through their own struggles.
Available on: Netflix
Nothing in this life is promised, and even when we achieve something great, it can all be snatched away in an instant. Carter High is based on the 1988 Carter High School football team that overcame an academic investigation and a legal battle that almost kept them out of the playoffs to win the 5A State Championship in Texas. However, racial tensions and robbery charges threaten to take some of those bright futures away.
Available on: Netflix
A woman coaching football at an inner-city Chicago high school. What can go wrong? Goldie Hawn plays the optimistic Molly McGrath as she butts heads with some of the toughest kids in Chi-Town in this 1986 comedy. Although critics were not keen on this movie on its box office release, watching Hawn trying to handle grown men twice her size is something to behold. The movie also stars a young Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes before either one was a household name. Let's not forget, Wildcats features one of the catchiest movie credits theme song of all time, and an LL Cool J cameo.
Available on: HBO
Like a lot of football fans after the end of the season, Kyle Bishop in The Last Fall is asking himself one question: What do I do now? This SXSW Festival film follows Bishop, an NFL player forced to retire at the age of 25 with no clue about what the next step will be. It is interesting look at some of the complications that face all players eventually, but especially those who never reached stardom.
Available on: Netflix
Muscles power football players to be faster and stronger than a mere mortal, but they can just as easily betray them. Tampa Bay Buccaneer running back Ricky Bell’s battle with dermatomyositis, a muscle disease, is featured in this 1991 CBS made-for-TV movie. Throw in a friendship with a physically impaired kid, and you have a heartfelt story about camaraderie and leaning on others for strength.
Available on: Amazon, Netflix
ALS may take a person’s movement, but it doesn’t have to take a person’s heart. Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story tells the real-life story of a coach who doesn’t let the degenerative disease dampen his spirit as he continues to coach and teach through his illness.
Available on: Amazon, Netflix
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