Yes, football season is here. So pass the brats, wings and fantasy football apps and settle in for some Giants, Jets, Eagles or whatever team pumps your football blood.
With that, I bring another smattering of related film choices.
As a longtime NFL and college gridiron fan I have my football flicks of favor.
See what you think of my favorites.
In no particular order…
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Knute Rockne: All American (1940)
The story of Notre Dame’s legendary football star and coach Knute Rockne, played by Pat O’Brian, cuts a few corners on facts but does well telling the story of how America’s most famous college team reached the heights.
With probably the most famous pep talk in sport history, Rockne’s famed “Win one for the Gipper” speech, the film dips into the campy at points but provides a well-placed tale with entertaining dialogue, a good story and strong characters that remains relevant despite its 86-year age.
George Gipp (Ronald Reagan, left) is the star halfback for Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne (Pat O’Brien) in 1940’s “Knute Rockne, All American.”
Overall, O’Brian plays the extraordinary coach with humor, depth and heart down to his horrific untimely death. It’s also the only film on the list with a future president, Ronald Reagan, as a young George Gipp.
The National Film Registry cited it for historic preservation in 1997 and hailed its “cultural and historical significance.”
We Are Marshall (2006)
The true story of Marshall University’s 1970 football squad, nearly all of whom died in a harrowing plane crash along with coaches and many boosters, hits you in the gut from the start.
Future Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey does more than justice as coach Jack Lengyel, who takes over the team the following year and works with college president Don Dedman, (David Strathairn) to basically build a squad from scratch.
Marshall football coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) gives an inspiring speech in the 1970s-set “We Are Marshall.”
Director McG leads the audience on a roller coaster that somehow mixes humor with tragedy and human spirit to show how this college football program literally came back from the dead.
Although it failed at the box office, the film deserves credit for presenting a difficult story well and giving a good inside look at college sports back before NILs, player portals and College Game Day.
The Longest Yard (1974)
In the spirit of “Cool Hand Luke” and “Shawshank Redemption,” this Robert Aldrich-directed tale is a stark view of prison life, but weaves in a smart football theme.
Burt Reynolds, in his pre-Smokey days, is star pro quarterback Paul Crewes who ends up behind bars after a drunk driving stolen car conviction that also includes assaulting cops.
His punishment: 18 months in the fictional Citrus State Prison (filmed at a Georgia state prison with the cooperation of then-Gov. Jimmy Carter)
Burt Reynolds plays an incarcerated quarterback in “The Longest Yard.”
Once there, Crewe organizes a football game between convicts and guards, which warden Rudolph Hazen (Eddie Albert) seeks to make sure the guards win. Drama, humor and a handful of NFL veterans make this a sharp piece of storytelling.
Concussion (2015)
Before Will Smith got slap happy at the Oscars he brought one of his best performances to this true story of the often-overlooked dangers of pro football.
As Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who fought the NFL’s ongoing suppression of the dangers of concussions, Smith highlights his research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease that has afflicted many former players.
Will Smith performs on stage during the 2024 BET Awards at the Peacock theatre in Los Angeles, June 30, 2024.
The film, which earned Smith a Golden Globe nomination but should have been his real Oscar win, does a good job of showing how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sought to keep such science out of the game until he and others were forced to address it at Omalu’s urging and eventual player lawsuits.
Brian’s Song (1971)
Technically an ABC TV movie, this emotional drama based on the life of Chicago Bears running backs Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers deserves mention along with any of its cinema brethren.
Sep 28, 1969; St. Louis, MO, USA; FILE PHOTO; Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo (41) in action against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium during the 1969 season. Mandatory Credit Herb Weitman-USA TODAY Sports
James Caan as Piccolo and Billy Dee Wiliams as Sayers power through the tough true story of a friendship that survived racial differences and gridiron rivalries until Piccolo succumbs to a tragic death from cancer at 26.
The film swept the 1972 Emmys and also won a Grammy for the title song composed by Henry Mancini and, surprisingly, performed by the Tonight Show Band.
North Dallas Forty (1979)
This raunchy, R-rated comedy is a bit of an outlier on the list but gets points for a revealing look at the rough side of pro football, on and off the field, in the 1970s.
Based on the novel by former Dallas Cowboys receiver Peter Gent, the film centers on players Phil Elliott (Nick Nolte) and Seth Maxwell (Mac Davis) of the fictional North Dallas Bulls.
Nick Nolte (center) is a wide receiver who leads a hard-living football squad in “North Dallas Forty.” Mac Davis (right) is his quarterback.
After some opening scenes meant to hard-tackle the viewer with sex, drugs and profane-filled content, the story settles down into a real human tale of getting through to the truth of life and power.
The flick also broke new ground as it blasted the All-American image of pro football, revealing the wide-ranging use of prescription pain killers, amphetamines and wild parties.
Texas Monthly called it “The Movie That Shattered the Dallas Cowboys Myth.”
All the Right Moves (1983)
A bright and dramatic Tom Cruise vehicle, which came out the same year as his more successful “Risky Business,” the story casts Cruise as high school football star Stef Djordjevic, a talented player but subpar academic student.
He’s no NFL prospect, but knows football can get him to college and out of the Pennsylvania steel town where life is grim and the future is bleak.
Tom Cruise plays a high school football hero wanting to escape his working-class Pennsylvania town in “All the Right Moves.”
Things look promising until a bad game sparks arguments, a blackball by his coach, played by future T.V. Coach Craig T. Nelson, and challenges to recover.
The film offers a good insight into team unity, the power some coaches have and the inner drive needed to succeed. It also gives a surprising twist of an ending that satisfies.
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Warren Beatty plays fictional L.A. Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton in this Oscar-nominated story that takes a look at the possible afterlife, and dealing with personal legacy.
Beatty co-directed the remake of 1941’s “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” that had a boxer in the main role. But this time it’s an NFL star who is forced to deal with his own unexpected early death.
Surprise, it was a mistake by a Heaven-sent “escort” (Buck Henry) who goofed. But before he can return Pendleton to his athletic body, the man’s remains are cremated.
Pendelton is forced to find another man’s body and take on his life, with some surprises, twists, and, of course, eventual love.
The flick has little actual football in it. But what there is offers some insight and thrills with a surprise ending.
“Heaven Can Wait” was nominated for nine Oscars, winning only one (for art direction). It had three Golden Globe wins.
Remember the Titans (2000)
Denzel Washington is at his height of popularity and skill when he takes the role of head coach Herman Boone, in this fact-based film about the integration of a Virginia high school football team in 1971.
The story does a great job of weaving the racial issues of the time, just three years after Martin Luther King’s death, and the need for teammates to work together for success.
Coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) integrates a high school football team in Virginia in “Remember the Titans.”
Will Patton shines as Bill Yoast, the white former head coach who agrees to stay on as Boone’s assistant and gives the story some real heart as it navigates through the coming together of black and white players in a way that is not forced or too preachy, but genuine.
Shout-out to a young Hayden Panettiere, the accomplished actress who died recently. She stole many scenes as Yoast’s precocious 9-year-old daughter Sheryl.
“Titans” may have more actual football footage and scenes from games and practices than any of those on the list, giving it a real feel of what players and coaches go through.
Roger Ebert called the film “a parable about racial harmony, yoked to the formula of a sports movie.”
Rutgers football faces Boston College in Sept. 11 game | photos
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Sep 11, 2026; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano calls out during the first half against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images (Eric Canha, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Rudy (1993)
This true tale of a long time Notre Dame fan who fights the odds to get into the famed university, then on the team in a practice role, and eventually plays in a game takes sentimentality and underdog hype to a new level.
But it works.
Credit Sean Astin, whose turn as real-life Fighting Irish alum Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger is believable enough to overcome any built-in saccharine residue.
Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) came out triumphant in the ending of “Rudy.”
Sure, Rudy’s ascension is far-fetched. But it’s true and Astin plays it perfectly, offering guts, hope and genuine drive but with a performance that doesn’t overdo it.
It also follows a good roadmap started by The Bad News Bears and Rocky that does not require the hero to win the big one but just get farther than anyone expected.
On that, Rudy delivers.
Honorable mentions: Paper Lion, The Blind Side, Semi-Tough, Any Given Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: What are the 10 best football movies of all time? Here’s our list