Perfectly captures the era, the man and the thrill of sports

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2006)

Just saw this movie on a flight home, and I must give it a high rating (9 or 10) because it so perfectly captures the emotion of sports, the personal story of Vince Papale and atmosphere of living in Philadelphia in the 1970's. I should know- I was there. There were several places where the story veers from reality (outlined below), but they are mere details for most movie-goers. I think they were playing up the "down and out" aspect of Papale's life before the Eagles and took some artistic license on the real facts.
Anyone interested in real sports movies and who likes underdog stories should see this movie. In addition, for me it was unexpectedly good, because I had not previously heard of this movie.
(By the way- my favorite sports movie of all time (ok, other than Caddyshack) is "Downhill Racer" with Robert Redford- check it out).
Some additional facts/ corrections for those of you who are hard-core fans or just want to know more. I don't think any of these are spoilers:
* Vince Papale did not live in South Philly, but in the nearby suburbs of Delaware County (Glenolden, PA), also my home town.
* He may have tended bar part-time, but he was employed full-time as junior high school teacher at least for 1972, 73 and 74 at my junior high school (Interboro Junior High, Propsect Park, PA). He taught business. Not sure what business means in junior high. He had also graduated from our high schools as a football and track star. He always had great speed and work hard at maintaining it.
* He may have played a lot of sandlot football, but he honed his skills for a number of years first in a semi-pro league as a member of the Aston Knights (Aston is another suburb of Philadelphia) and then for 2 years with the Philadelphia Bell (coached by Jim Mora by the way) of the short lived WFL. The semi-pro league was notorious for its roughness- no penalties for late hits, piling on, etc. Papale distinguished himself in this league as the toughest of the toughhe was able to take a lot of hard hits and keep playing (wide receiver, I think). He played in this league for like 5 years.
* He was much taller and thinner than Mark Walburg portrays him in this movie- wiry I would say, but pretty well built. He did not weight a lot for an NFL player (I am sure less than 200 lbs). He distinguished himself with speed, hustle and the ability to take hits.
* He worked out relentlessly. As a high school cross country runner, we were required to do two-a-day runs during the extreme heat of August. During a lot of these sessions, Papale was working out at the high school track and gym. By then he was playing for the Bell. He had a really cool car also (280-Z?).
* As a teacher, he was really a good guy- friendly, didn't take it too seriously like some teachers, never yelled at kids and played steady QB for us in our lunchtime football games- and I think this part of his personality came out in the movie.
The rest of it- try outs, interaction with Vermeil, was pretty accurate, I think. Vermiel had to fight his way into the Philadelphia fan base. Philly fans are notoriously brutal, especially then- and they took a perverse pride in that fact. Today, they love him- he still does ads for Blue Cross there.
I remember one Eagles game vividly- they were trying to make up 2 touch downs- on a kickoff the receiving team (maybe Giants?) were letting the ball go into the endzone for a touchback- when Papale came flying down the field- from nowhere- and downed the ball on the ½ yard line- literally grounding the ball with his arm while his body was mid-air flying into the end zone. He had that capability of injecting hope into a lost cause. This was also well captured by the film.
The movie also captured the depressed mood of Philadelphia in the mid-seventies- after Watergate and the initial gas crisis, during "stagflation" but before the Carter malaise. It was a terrible economy- and in a working class neighborhood that meant lay-offs and strikes. Sports was one of the few escapes available to everyone. In my (nearby) Philadelphia neighborhood, we lived for sports (and not any of this organized crap- it was all pick-up games)- all year round- football- basketball, street hockey (the real kind without skates), basketball, and of course stickball. Kids today need more of that, I think.
For just a slice of that- go see this movie. I can vouch for its authenticity.