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Football Movies Inspire Me Like No Other, and Here’s What They Can Do for You

These life-lessons are better on screen than in books

By Jordan MendiolaPublished 2 years ago 4 min read
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Photo by Emma Dau on Unsplash

Ever since I got deployed, I used football films as a way of finding forms of intense motivation. The films that come to mind are Friday Night Lights, The Blind Side, and When the Game Stands Tall.

For some, it’s superhero movies, and for others, it’s Disney movies. Wherever your motivation comes from, it’s something nobody can take away from you, and that’s what matters the most.

In my situation, football speaks volumes. I can watch a football film and instantly be immersed back into my high school days when my senior year began, and my student-athlete career was coming to a dramatic end.

Allow yourself to be inspired by football movies by paying special attention to the following:

Coaches Speeches

Nothing is more motivational verbally than a coach’s inspiring and motivational speech. The speech that stands out to me most comes from When The Game Stands Tall.

Coach Ladouceur was the head coach for California’s De La Salle High School that had an incredible win 150 game streak that was dramatically broken by Washington State’s Bellevue High School.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

1. “We’re not asking you to be perfect on every play. What we’re asking of you and what you should be asking of each other is to give a perfect effort from snap to whistle.” — Coach Ladouceur

2. “I want to help you when you grow up you can be counted on.” — Coach Ladouceur

3. “Don’t let a game define who you are. Let your lives do that.” — Assistant. Coach Terry Eidson

4. Commitment. Accountability. Perfect Effort. Love

Every one of these quotes has held a special place in my heart. When I don’t feel like going out for a run or working on staying in shape, I read one.

They remind me that my Army brothers and sisters are relying on me to be at my best when it’s time to get a job done.

Through football films, I want to become more reliable and more of a leader that people can count on.

Player and Character Development

When I think about a player who develops tremendously throughout a movie is Michael Oher in The Blind Side. He is introduced as a person who has athletic poise to become a professional in football.

But the one place Michael falls short is his grades. When Sandra Bullock’s character Lianne Touhey steps in to adopt Michael as one of her own, he boosts his grades, gets admitted into college, and eventually plays in the NFL!

This is based on a true story, which is all the more inspiring.

When you watch a football movie, you can bet that you’re going to go on a long journey with the characters from start to finish. The ones who are timid and shy, that end up being genuine and leaders. Or even the cocky ones like Booobie Miles who are humbled after a torn ACL.

Some of my favorite football movie characters who develop include:

  • Coach Ladouceur — When The Game Stands Tall
  • Mike Winchell — Friday Night Lights
  • Lianne Touhey — The Blind Side
  • Paul Crewe — The Longest Yard

The list could go on and on, but those are some of my all-time favorites. We don’t always get a chance to experience great leaders and lessons in our own football days, but by learning from the films, we can absorb unlimited amounts of knowledge.

The Football Games

Ultimately, the most inspirational parts of football movies are football games. There’s no other way to motivate a football fan or anyone in general than through a football game.

It is these games that teach us to defy the odds and to believe deeper within ourselves. The games teach us to push aside selfishness and to promote bravery and trust within the team.

Some of the most inspirational football games in film include:

  • The Guards vs. The Convicts — The Longest Yard
  • Permian vs. Dallas Carter — Friday Night Lights
  • De La Salle vs. Long Beach Poly — When The Game Stands Tall

Nothing can beat the action and nitty-gritty emotions that run through you during these types of movies.

The games allow me to reminisce back to my football days when I ran in some touchdowns on Friday nights under the lights. They allow me to remember how I would play until my body collapsed in order to protect my brothers to my left and right.

I gave everything I had on the field.

To Recap

There are so many places within football movies to find motivation. It takes a bit of digging and concentration to really take in all of the life lessons being displayed on the screen.

The top three most motivational parts of football films are:

  1. The Coach’s Speeches
  2. The Character/Player Development
  3. The Football Games

If football movies can give me the motivation to go out and give my best on the field by running sprints all night long, then they can get you to push yourself beyond your boundaries as well.

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About the Creator

Jordan Mendiola

Jordan Mendiola is a horizontal construction engineer in the U.S. Army, Mendiola loves hands-on projects and writing inspirational blog posts about health, fitness, life, and investing.

linktr.ee/Jordanmendiola

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