From Friday Night Lights to Any Given Sunday - the 10 BEST American Football movies ever

One of the biggest dates of the sporting calendar takes place on Sunday as Las Vegas hosts Super Bowl LVIII.

At the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, the San Franciso 49ers will face The Kansas City Chiefs for the biggest prize in American Football.

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That means Brock Purdy vs. Patrick Mahomes, Kyle Shanahan vs. Andy Reid and Taylor Swift vs. The Paparazzi.

As we approach the big game, MovieMeter has looked back at some of the greatest ever American Football movies for a list of the best 10.

Within our MovieMeter community, there are various American Football movies that have received hugely positive responses. By subscribing to become a member of the MovieMeter community HERE, you can rate all of your favourite movies - and some of your least favourite ones.

From our handpicked shortlist, the MovieMeter community have voted The Blind Side as the best American Football movie ever. It told the story of a young African American man Michael Oher who is adopted by a rich, white family after an impoverished upbringing, who convince him to try out for the NFL. Sandra Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Michael's adoptive mother Leigh Anne Tuohy.

In at number two is Remember the Titans. Another biography, this Denzel Washington movie told the true story of an African American coach Herman Boone who attempts to integrate black and white players into a high school football team amid racial tensions in 1970s Alexandria, Virginia.

Our third movie is also the most recent, and again it is a biography. Safety is based on the story of Ray McElrathbey, a football player who battled family adversity to join the Clemson Tigers.

The link between football and Jerry Maguire may be tenuous, but for us, it certainly counts, as Tom Cruise's sports agent contends with negotiations for his millionaire client played by Cuba Gooding Junior. 

Rounding out the top five is 1925's The Freshman.

Best Football Movies Ever

1. The Blind Side

3.62 (1852)

The Blind Side (2009)

The film tells the true story of Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a young, homeless African-American boy. Michael is noticed one evening by Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and because he has no place to sleep, Leigh Anne offers him shelter. This sets in motion a series of events that will change the lives of both Michael and the Tuohy family forever...

Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron and Tim McGraw

2. Remember the Titans

3.58 (1317)

Remember the Titans (2000)

Virginia, 1971. In the small town of Alexandra, everything revolves around high school football. When the school board is forced to merge an all-black and all-white school, the community shakes to its foundations. That doesn't change when Alexandria-unknown young black coach Herman Boone is appointed head coach of the TC Williams Titans. In fits and starts, he and the somewhat older Bill Yoast try to transform a group of angry, disinterested boys into a dynamic winning team.

Directed by: Boaz Yakin
Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton and Wood Harris

3. Safety

3.38 (12)

Safety (2020)

"Safety" tells the story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey, a freshman who plays football at Clemson University. When he learns that his family life at home has become too unstable, and that these circumstances have consequences for his younger brother, he decides to raise him in secret at university.

Directed by: Reginald Hudlin
Stars: Jay Reeves, Luke Tennie and Matthew Glave

4. Jerry Maguire

3.24 (1536)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jerry Maguire is a successful manager of elite athletes. One day, when his conscience starts to run wild, he decides to express his new philosophy as an independent manager. He does this together with the only athlete who has remained loyal to him, the football player Rod Tidwell, and his colleague Dorothy.

Directed by: Cameron Crowe
Stars: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renée Zellweger

5. The Freshman

3.25 (66)

The Freshman (1925)

Harold "Speedy" Lamb is an outsider hoping to become popular in college. Because of his hopeless efforts, he quickly turns into the boy who makes everyone laugh. However, Speedy thinks the attention he gets is positive. Only Peggy stands by him and appreciates him for who he really is. Despite this, she dares not say that he is just a "joke" in the eyes of the others. When confronted with the truth, Speedy decides to prove he's not a big joke and takes part in the big football game.

Directed by: Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor
Stars: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston and Brooks Benedict

6. Friday Night Lights

3.22 (306)

Friday Night Lights (2004)

The story is about the 1988 football season of the Odessa (Texas) Permian High Panthers, a high school football team. The struggles and hopes of a financially ruined town whose hopes are pinned on the football team in Friday night's games are followed in the film.

Directed by: Peter Berg
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Derek Luke and Garrett Hedlund

7. The Longest Yard

3.23 (132)

The Longest Yard (1974)

During his time in prison, a football player assembles a team to play against a team of guards. Of course the prison boss wants to bribe him by releasing him early, but as a team leader he is of course responsible for his fellow inmates.

Directed by: Robert Aldrich
Stars: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert and Ed Lauter

8. Rudy

3.22 (92)

Rudy (1993)

Rudy grows up in a mining village where many people eventually went to work, but preferred to play football at Notre Dame instead. Rudy's grades are just a little low, he has few athletic skills and is much smaller than other athletes. But he decides not to give up and joins the football team.

Directed by: David Anspaugh
Stars: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau and Ned Beatty

9. Brian's Song

3.18 (20)

Brian's Song (1971)

When Gale Sayers joins the Chicago Bears to play football, he immediately falls into the group because of his dark complexion. He becomes the roommate of the fanatic Brian Piccolo, after which the pair slowly become friends, despite the fact that they strive for the same position on the team.

Directed by: Buzz Kulik
Stars: James Caan, Billy Dee Williams and Jack Warden

10. Any Given Sunday

3.17 (1100)

Any Given Sunday (1999)

Coach Tony D'Amato is a living legend of American football. But since the three defeats in a row, the future of his Miami Sharks doesn't look exactly rosy. Tony fears that he will be fired at the end of the season by the young, ambitious chairwoman and co-owner of the team, Christina Pagniacci. To save the fate of his players and himself, however, he can no longer rely on his most important pawn, the injured quarterback Jack Rooney. When his second quarterback also dies, Tony has no choice but to hire a young, unknown replacement: Willie Beamen.

Directed by: Oliver Stone
Stars: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz and Dennis Quaid