Every movie based on a football is an inspirational story. There are many instances where it is either one of the players or the coach who has a huge impact on troubled boys hearts, or creates an amazing team out of nothing. Many football movies are based on true stories, because those are the movies that hit close to home and lead the audience to be inspired. When the Game Stands Tall and My All American are two football movies that are based on true stories. 

When the Game Stands Tall is about the de la Salle High School Football team in California. This team held a one hundred and fifty one game winning streak as well as held twelve consecutive state titles. The teams backbone throughout all of these wins was their coach. He inspired the players and made each of them want to play their very best. Once it becomes his sons senior football season, the team goes out to play their first game and they are faced with their first loss. This loss completely shatters the team and makes each of the players stop caring as much. This team unlike the others went in thinking they would win because they were the “streak team” not taking every game one at a time to ensure a win like the teams in the past. The coach’s son Danny has a hard time with this because he wants his dad to be his coach and his dad but he is more of a coach than a father. When the coach decides to take the team to the Veterans Hospital so that they can witness true struggle and hardships, the team gains a since of inspiration. After hearing about how one soldier who had half of his body blown off say that he would go back any day to help his team, the team realized that this sport wasn't about selfishness. After a season that began with a two game loss, the team goes on to defeating the number one team in the country and winning the state championship for the thirteenth year in a row.

My All American is the true story about Freddie Steinmark. This story begins with Freddie at a young age playing football as hard as he can as a very small boy. Although the smallest Freddie works the absolute hardest to be the best football player he can be. When he reaches high school, Freddie becomes the star athlete of his school in Colorado. His junior season a new boy comes from California and he is everything that Freddie wishes he was, tall, huge, fast and strong. Little does this new boy, Bobby, know that when he stands beside Freddie to race, he will be blown out of the water. Later on Bobby is invited to the University of Texas to meet with Coach Royal, the head football coach, when the recruiter comes to let him know, he sees Freddie and gives him an invitation to. Coach Royal is the only coach to offer Freddie a football scholarship so him and Bobby both attend the University of Texas. Freddie soon becomes the heart of the defense in only his sophomore season, and by his senior year leads the team to a National Championship with an injured leg. After the national championship  Freddie is taken to the doctor where he finds out that there is a large tumor in his leg that is bone cancer. He goes into surgery where the doctors must amputate his leg at the hip. The team was to play in the cotton bowl against Notre Dame in the weeks to come which was a very important game to Freddie, but he was told he would not even be able to attend. Bobby brings crutches and him and Freddie practice every day for three weeks so he can make it to attend the game. As Freddie makes it to the game the team is utterly inspired and goes on to win the game. Freddie died a year and a half later, but was forever the best player that Coach Royal had ever coached. Before every game at the University of Texas, each player touches a memorial of Freddie as good luck.

Although each of these stories are very inspirational, When the Game Stands Tall is more the story of a comeback and My All American is of how one small boy created a legacy for himself and his teammates and inspired the world. A High School football story and a College football story have very different realities. Where a high school story has one where it brings the whole town together to cheer on and support each of the players as they strive to make a comeback and a College story has a larger effect on the entire state and in this case the entire country. Where the coach has the biggest impact on the players in When the Game stands tall, Freddie has the biggest impact on the players in his story. The peak of each movie hits at a very different time. The peak of the first is when the team loses their game and has to build their way back up, and the second is when Freddie finds out about his leg. Another large difference is that one of the movies is based around the team as a whole and one is based around one key player on the team. Although very different each of these shows that a team needs a leader but the team still must work together as one to accomplish the task set forth.

These are two football movies based on great stories. While each very unique in its own way they each hold the inspiration and hope that a football movie holds. Whether it is a team of incredibly talented selfish players that must learn that theres no I in team, or a strong courageous boy that just wants to play football yet must take on the challenge of his life, there is always an urge of hope and a will to sit at the edge of your seat when watching these types of films. These are two of the greatest football movies of all time and they should be seen by everyone as an encouragement of faith.