So you want to do what some of the biggest NFL busts never did: study football film. You’ve got the drive to learn from the decisive plays, watch those game-clinching throws, and witness them beastly runs that can get a roaring stadium crowd up on their feet and register on the Richter scale.
It’s a good thing we got the best football movies right here that’ll make you a pro, and you won’t even need a sports agent or that distracting multi-million dollar contract.
First, throw away your scouting reports, QB ratings, and ELOs (we’re not talking about Jeff Lynne LPs). To create our list of the best football movies, we use just one metric: the Tomatometer. We start with Certified Fresh films like Friday Night Lights, Jerry Maguire, and ultimate underdog story Rudy, all majorly approved by the critics.
Then we follow those up with Fresh movies, which include enduring favorites like the crowd-pleasing Remember the Titans, tearjerker Brian’s Song, and Academy Award-winning The Blind Side.
Then come the Rotten movies, which plenty of RT users have given the go-ahead with positive Popcornmeter Scores. (Alright, we’ll come out and say it: A majority of critics may not have played ball at the collegiate level.) They include popular picks like Any Given Sunday, We Are Marshall, The Waterboy, and Varsity Blues.
So if you want to know your Xs and Os from your Y.A. Titles, open up the playbook to the best football movies of all time, ranked by Tomatometer. And soon you’ll get to the Hall of Fame without ever having to step foot in Canton.
#1
Critics Consensus: It covers familiar sports documentary territory, but Undefeated proves there are still powerful stories to be told on the high school gridiron.
#2
Critics Consensus: Featuring Patton Oswalt’s sympathetic portrayal, Big Fan humorously and effectively captures the dark and lonely world of a sports fanatic.
#3
Critics Consensus: Go Tigers! is an absorbing and evenhanded documentary that takes a perceptive look at the world of high school sports and its impact on a community.
#4
Critics Consensus: Anchored by dazzling performances from Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Renée Zellweger, as well as Cameron Crowe’s tender direction, Jerry Maguire meshes romance and sports with panache.
#5
Critics Consensus: A throwback to the high-gloss screwball comedies of the 1940s, Heaven Can Wait beguiles with seamless production values and great comic relief from Charles Grodin and Dianne Cannon.
#6
Critics Consensus: An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie.
#7
Critics Consensus: Though undeniably sentimental and predictable, Rudy succeeds with an uplifting spirit and determination.
#8
Critics Consensus: American Underdog sticks to the standard inspirational sports drama playbook — and proves once again that it can be very effective in the right hands.
#9
Critics Consensus: Horse Feathers finds the Marx Brothers in fine madcap form, taking aim at an array of timely targets while serving up classic set pieces.
#10
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#11
Critics Consensus: Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 is compelling viewing even though it spoils the score of the titular college football matchup – and even if you aren’t a fan of the sport.
#12
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#13
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#14
Critics Consensus: Buoyed by standout performances from James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, Brian’s Song is a touching tale of friendship whose central relationship transcends its standard sports movie moments.
#15
Critics Consensus: Muddled overall, but perceptive and brutally realistic, North Dallas Forty also benefits from strong performances by Nick Nolte and Charles Durning. Football fans will likely find it fascinating.
#16
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#17
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#18
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Critics Consensus: A bleak but original indie, The Slaughter Rule benefits from outstanding performances by Ryan Gosling and David Morse.
#20
Critics Consensus: Equal parts tough and funny, and led by a perfectly cast Burt Reynolds, The Longest Yard has an interesting political subtext and an excellent climax — even if it takes too long to get there.
#21
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#22
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#23
Critics Consensus: An inspirational crowd-pleaser with a healthy dose of social commentary, Remember the Titans may be predictable, but it’s also well-crafted and features terrific performances.
#24
Critics Consensus: As simple and authentic as the gritty South Philly invirons in which it’s set in, Invincible sends a uplifting and heartfelt message packed with an athletic enthusiasm that shouldn’t be missed.
#25
Critics Consensus: Paterno, elevated by deft direction from Barry Levinson and a strong Al Pacino performance, presents a hard-hitting dramatization of a gut-wrenching real-life story.
#26
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#27
Critics Consensus: It might strike some viewers as a little too pat, but The Blind Side has the benefit of strong source material and a strong performance from Sandra Bullock.
#28
Critics Consensus: While it remains a reasonably inspiring drama, Brian Banks might have presented a more complex or fully realized version of the real-life story it dramatizes.
#29
Critics Consensus: The Express crosses the goal line as an inspirational sports drama, although fans of the genre will recognize many — if not most — of its clichés.
#30
Critics Consensus: All the Right Moves is an uncommonly grim coming-of-age drama that overcomes numerous clichés with its realistic approach to its characters and setting.
#31
Critics Consensus: It’s perfectly pleasant for sports buffs and Costner fans, but overall, Draft Day lives down to its title by relying too heavily on the sort of by-the-numbers storytelling that only a statistician could love.
#32
Critics Consensus: Concussion lands a solid, well-acted hit on its impressively timely subject matter, even if its traditional sports drama structure is a little too safe to deserve a full-on dance in the end zone.
#33
Critics Consensus: Despite a good premise and strong cast, this pro football romcom is half screwball and half fumble.
#34
Critics Consensus: Sometimes entertaining, but overall Any Given Sunday is a disappointment coming from Oliver Stone.
#35
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#36
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Critics Consensus: Matthew McConaughey almost runs We Are Marshall to the end zone, but can’t stop it from taking the easy, feel-good route in memorializing this historic event in American sports.
#38
Critics Consensus: The Last Boy Scout is as explosive, silly, and fun as it does represent the decline of the buddy-cop genre.
#39
Critics Consensus: This is a predictable football movie that lacks intensity.
#40
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#41
Critics Consensus: The role of probation officer Sean Porter fits Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson like a glove; however, the execution is so cliched, the youths’ stories (based on real events), fail to inspire.
#42
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#43
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#44
Critics Consensus: The cliched characters and obvious outcome make all the fun and excitement amount to nothing.
#45
Critics Consensus: The Longshots means well, but it’s a largely formulaic affair, rarely deviating from the inspirational sports movie playbook.
#46
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#47
Critics Consensus: The real life story that inspired 23 Blast is undeniably heartwarming — but the movie itself is too predictable and amateurish to recommend.
#48
Critics Consensus: This likeable, goofy football comedy has its moments, but it ultimately adheres too closely to the sports movie playbook to overcome the cliches in the script.
#49
Critics Consensus: The story is heavy on syrupy uplift and turns Radio into a saint/cuddly pet.
#50
Critics Consensus: This is an insult to its genre with low humor and cheap gags.
#51
Critics Consensus: This Yard has some laughs, but missing from this remake is the edginess of the original.
#52
Critics Consensus: Fumbling the ball well before the red zone, HIM has style to spare but botches its promising conceit with rookie execution.
#53
Critics Consensus: My All American has a genuinely moving real-life story to tell, but writer-director Angelo Pizzo fumbles it into manipulative, melodramatic tearjerker territory.
#54
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#55
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#56
Critics Consensus: Despite The Rock’s abundant charisma, The Game Plan is just another run-of-the-mill Disney comedy.
#57
Critics Consensus: Despite its sportsmanlike swagger, Two for the Money’s aimless plot isn’t worth betting on.
#58
Critics Consensus: An uneasy blend of solid game sequences and threadbare inspirational sports drama clichés, When the Game Stands Tall is overshadowed by better players in a crowded field.
#59
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#60
Critics Consensus: The tropes of both football and evangelical movies are gracelessly on parade in this banal, insipid drama.
#61
Critics Consensus: Full of groin-centric humor and tired sports clichés, The Comebacks is poor even by parody movie standards.
