Baseball may be America’s pastime, but filmmakers know that football is America’s passion. Football at various levels — from Pee Wee to the National Football League — has been the subject or the backdrop for many movies and documentaries.
Often the films have climactic scenes played out on the gridiron as the clock ticks down in the final seconds. But sometimes the stories are bigger than football, touching on ambition, courage and race relations.
Football movies have been with us since the early 1920s, when such silent films as “The Freshman,” starring Harold Lloyd; “The Plastic Age,” starring Clara Bow; and “Brown of Harvard” were produced. Since then there has rarely been a year when a football movie hasn’t been made. Films on other sports are popular, too. Here’s the list of the greatest sports movies of all time.
Check the list below to see where your favorite football movies rank. You may find some others that will be worth viewing.
Click here to the greatest football movies of all time
To identify the greatest football movies of all time, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the football movies in our database with the highest index score. The index is a composite of the movies’ IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes audience score, and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score. All ratings were weighted equally. Casting information comes from IMDb.
24. Little Giants (1994)
> Combined score: 1.63 — #6,926 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.4
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 63%
> Starring: Rick Moranis, Ed O’Neill, Shawna Waldron, Devon Sawa
In this family comedy, Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill play brothers living in a small Ohio town. They wind up becoming coaches of rival Pee Wee Football teams. And, of course, they end up in a big game for the championship. The movie even has a little nod to feminism.
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23. The Waterboy (1998)
> Combined score: 1.67 — #6,692 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.2
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71%
> Starring: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler, Fairuza Balk
In one of Adam Sandler’s most beloved movies, the comedian plays a somewhat mentally challenged man who is the water boy for the University of Louisiana football team. Often mistreated by the players, he is fired after being labeled “a distraction.” He finds a new job as water boy for the ne’er-do-well South Central Louisiana State University. Ultimately, he winds up as a player for the Mud Dogs in the Bourbon Bowl, where they face his former team. You can guess what happens next.
22. 23 Blast (2014)
> Combined score: 1.68 — #6,653 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.5
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 66%
> Starring: Mark Hapka, Bram Hoover, Stephen Lang, Max Adler
In this drama based on a true story, the main character, Travis Freeman, is a high school football star in Kentucky until he loses his sight because of a bacterial meningitis infection. As he struggles to adjust to his blindness, he just can’t give up his love for football. With the encouragement of his coach, he manages to find his way back onto the gridiron.
21. Facing the Giants (2006)
> Combined score: 1.68 — #6,634 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.6
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85%
> Starring: Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields, Jason McLeod, Tracy Goode
In this Christian drama, Alex Kendrick plays Coach Grant Taylor, who just can’t win. Literally. He goes into his seventh season with a losing record and promptly loses the first three games of the season. Meanwhile, he discovers that he is unable to get his wife pregnant. So he takes a different approach, praising God after every game, even if it is a loss. The story culminates in the big game, with everything on the line, and Taylor’s field goal kicker looking at what seems to be an impossible 51-yard attempt.
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20. The 5th Quarter (2010)
> Combined score: 1.73 — #6,314 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 5.6
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62%
> Starring: Andie MacDowell, Aidan Quinn, Ryan Merriman, Anessa Ramsey
In this drama based on a true story, Ryan Merriman plays Jon Abbate, whose 15-year-old brother is killed in a car crash caused by a reckless teenage driver. Abbate becomes motivated to play for the Wake Forest football team in honor of his brother, leading the Demon Deacons to success.
19. The Replacements (2000)
> Combined score: 1.74 — #6,274 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.6
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 66%
> Starring: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton, Orlando Jones
In this comedy, a fictional pro football league turns to replacement players after the regular players go on strike. Keanu Reeves plays Shane Falco, a washed out former college football quarterback who is living on a houseboat. Coach Jimmy McGinty, played by Gene Hackman, recruits him for the replacement team, giving him a chance at redemption.
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18. Semi-Tough (1977)
> Combined score: 1.78 — #6,036 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 5.9
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 31%
> Starring: Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh, Robert Preston
Based on the 1972 novel by sportswriter Dan Jenkins, this comedy has Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson playing pro football players who whose friendship with the team owner’s daughter becomes a romantic triangle.
17. My All-American (2015)
> Combined score: 1.83 — #5,728 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.2
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77%
> Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Finn Wittrock, Robin Tunney, Sarah Bolger
In this drama based on a true story, Freddie Steinmark (played by Finn Wittrock) wants nothing more in life than to play football. He does just that in high school but is considered too small to play college football. He finally wins a spot on the team of the University of Texas at Austin, where he encounters plenty of challenges on the way to the Cotton Bowl.
16. Radio (2003)
> Combined score: 1.85 — #5,596 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.9
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79%
> Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger, S. Epatha Merkerson
Based partly on a true story, the film has Ed Harris playing a high school football coach who develops a life-changing bond with Radio Kennedy, a developmentally challenged young man played by Cuba Gooding Jr.
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15. Draft Day (2014)
> Combined score: 1.94 — #5,028 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.8
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 65%
> Starring: Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner, Frank Langella
In this NFL drama, Kevin Costner plays a fictional character who is the general manager of the Cleveland Browns. On Draft Day, he grapples with multiple concerns, both professional and personal. Chadwick Boseman makes a notable appearance as one of the players involved in the NFL Draft.
14. Any Given Sunday (1999)
> Combined score: 1.96 — #4,955 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.9
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73%
> Starring: Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, James Woods
In this drama directed by Oliver Stone, Al Pacino plays Coach Tony D’Amato, whose job with the Miami Sharks is on the line after he falls into disfavor with team owner Christina Pagniacci, played by Cameron Diaz. The movie has plenty of cameo appearances from sports figures, including Dick Butkus, Y.A. Tittle, Pat Toomay, Warren Moon, Johnny Unitas, Emmitt Smith and Terrell Owens.
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13. We Are Marshall (2006)
> Combined score: 2.00 — #4,703 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.1
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79%
> Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, David Strathairn
Based on a true story, this movie has Matthew McConaughey playing Jack Lengyel, who becomes takes on the daunting task of coaching the Marshall University football team after a plane crash kills 37 players, the head coach and five assistant coaches.
12. Concussion (2015)
> Combined score: 2.07 — #4,278 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.2
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 74%
> Starring: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, David Morse
Based on an article published in GQ magazine, this movie stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist. The NFL tries to suppress his research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) brain degeneration suffered by professional football players.
11. The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)
> Combined score: 2.13 — #3,908 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.3
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75%
> Starring: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Clancy Brown, Darrin Dewitt Henson
Based on the life of the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, this film tells the story of Syracuse University Running back Ernie Davis (played by Rob Brown). Davis encountered many challenges on his way to winning the Heisman and afterward. The movie marks the film debut of Chadwick Boseman, who plays Floyd Little.
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10. Invincible (2006)
> Combined score: 2.18 — #3,562 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.1
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73%
> Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Conway
In this movie based on a true story, Mark Wahlberg portrays Vince Papale, a 30-year-old part-time bartender who lands a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles and becomes the oldest rookie in the NFL. Papale played three seasons as a wide receiver under head coach Dick Vermeil, played by Greg Kinnear.
9. Knute Rockne All American (1940)
> Combined score: 2.18 — #3,554 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 6.8
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 61%
> Starring: Pat O’Brien, Gale Page, Ronald Reagan, Donald Crisp
There may be no bigger name in Notre Dame football lore than Knute Rockne, who coached the Fighting Irish for 13 seasons. Pat O’Brien portrays Rockne is this film that The New York Times called “one of the best pictures for boys in years.” Notably, Ronald Reagan, who later became president of the United States, plays George Gipp — as in “Win one for the Gipper.”
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8. North Dallas Forty (1979)
> Combined score: 2.26 — #3,029 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.0
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70%
> Starring: Nick Nolte, Charles Durning, Mac Davis, Dayle Haddon
In this satire of professional football, Nick Nolte plays an aging wide receiver who wants little more than to play football, retire and live on a horse farm. Along the way he indulges in sex, drugs and alcohol to the dismay of the team’s owners. The movie marked the film debut of country singer Mac Davis.
7. The Blind Side (2009)
> Combined score: 2.31 — #2,701 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.6
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85%
> Starring: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head
In this biographical drama, Quinton Aaron plays Michael Oher, an impoverished young black man who goes on to play in the NFL after being adopted by a white couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Touhey. Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award in the role of Leigh Anne. Keep a box of tissues handy.
6. Happy Valley (2014)
> Combined score: 2.32 — #2,595 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.1
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70%
> Starring: Jay Paterno, Andrew Shubin, ., .
This documentary, written and directed by Amir Bar-Lev, recounts the scandal at Penn State University after Jerry Sandusky, the longtime defensive coordinator, was charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse.
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5. Brian Banks (2018)
> Combined score: 2.35 — #2,413 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.2
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97%
> Starring: Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Liburd
Based on a true story, Brian Banks, a young football player, sees his dream of playing in the NFL die after he is wrongly convicted of rape. Banks, played by Aldis Hodge, tries to revive that dream after he is released from prison.
4. Friday Night Lights (2004)
> Combined score: 2.42 — #1,930 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.2
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85%
> Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez, Derek Luke, Lucas Black
Based on a book by H.G. Bissinger, this film portrays the culture and the drama of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, as it makes a run for the state football championship. The movie won an ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie.
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3. Rudy (1993)
> Combined score: 2.46 — #1,617 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.5
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90%
> Starring: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty, Greta Lind
In this movie based on a true story, Sean Astin portrays Rudy Ruettiger, a young man who dreams of playing football for Notre Dame. Despite lacking the talent, size and money needed to accomplish his dream, Rudy decides to go for it anyway. This film has been known to make grown men — and women — cry.
2. Remember the Titans (2000)
> Combined score: 2.48 — #1,509 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.8
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93%
> Starring: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Based on a true story, this movie recounts the struggles of Coach Herman Boone, played by Denzel Washington, as he tries to integrate a high school football team in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971. Even though Boone says that it doesn’t matter to him whether a player is black or white, the coach has to deal with much more than X’s and O’s.
1. Undefeated (2011)
> Combined score: 2.66 — #453 out of 17,159 movies
> IMDb rating: 7.7
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89%
> Starring: Bill Courtney, O.C. Brown, Montrail ‘Money’ Brown, Chavis Daniels
This documentary, directed by Daniel Landsay and T.J. Martin, looks at a struggling high school football team in Memphis, Tennessee, as it attempts to post a winning season after years and years of losses. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
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