Thrown for a loss (with spoiler[s] to those who think it is)

Rating: 4/10 (18 November 2000)

This movie started out as a straight drama, and took a serious wrong turn towards a comedic styling better suited for MAJOR LEAGUE/BULL DURHAM/REPLACEMENTS and others of that ilk.
When the guy kisses his teammate with no motivation whatsoever, it's burlesque farce. When the team unites to sing Motown (and badly at that), it's the equivalent of Romeo and Juliet in character doing a scene on ER. These scenes intercepted the film midway for a touchdown on the side of political correctness and created an inconsistency in styles of performing in the open against style at the end.
To paraphrase the late Robert Reed: "once a film opens in a given style of acting/writing/directing; it cannot under any circumstances introduce (let alone accept) a different style".
As such, I cannot recommend this film to anyone. For straight football drama done right, rent BRIAN'S SONG or THE LONGEST YARD instead.