There are many tales of life on the gridiron. Either it’s the story of a team that came so close to Super Bowl glory and fell short, or the biography of one of the greatest coaches of all time. Every year, fans tune in to watch their favorite teams, and every fan will tell you how different each season is.
That means there are plenty of stories to document, from a team’s history to one key player to the coaches and owners. Football has great stories that span generations; the legends of the league and the overlooked alike all have a story to tell. The world of football is a fascinating one, filled with interconnected narratives and remarkable stories of triumph. These are the best of the best in football documentaries.
Once you’ve gone through these 15 documentaries and still want more, check out these honorable mentions.
- Elway to Marino (2013)
- A Football Life: Walter Payton (2012)
- The Band That Wouldn’t Die (2009)
- The Best That Never Was (2010)
- Pony Excess (2010)
15
‘Missing Rings: The 1998 Minnesota Vikings’ (2008)
The Greatest Team That Never Lifted the Trophy
The NFL Network produces an excellent annual documentary called America’s Game, breaking down the previous year’s Super Bowl champions’ season. Back in 2008, a spin-off called Missing Rings covered teams that could’ve – and frankly should’ve – won a Lombardi Trophy but fell short. That year saw the release of Missing Rings: The 1998 Minnesota Vikings, a one-hour documentary about how the Vikings were poised to bring home a title and looked nearly unstoppable.
They reached a 15-1 regular-season record and were Super Bowl favorites, but they fell short in the NFC Championship Game. Their kicker, one of the best of all time in Gary Anderson – who hadn’t missed a field goal all season – pushed a fourth-quarter attempt wide left, and Atlanta rallied to win 30-27 in overtime.
14
‘The U’ (2009)
Swagger, Scandal, and The Team That Changed College Football
Speaking of great college programs in Florida, the ESPN-produced documentary The U was made in collaboration with South Florida-based production company Rakontur. The film tells the story of the cultural shifts in the greater Miami area throughout the 1980s and how the University of Miami sat at the center of it all.
The U, as it’s known, built its reputation by recruiting young men from Florida’s low-income towns, giving them an opportunity nobody else would. With this new image and raw swagger, the Hurricanes would go on to win four national titles between 1983 and 1991. Rakontur later followed it up with a sequel, The U Part 2 (2014), which carries the Hurricanes’ story into the 2000s.
A Rare Look Behind the Hoodie
A Football Life: Bill Belichick is one of many entries in the series, but what makes this two-part installment stand out is its subject: Belichick is a very private guy outside of football. You just don’t get a camera crew to follow him around for an entire season. Yet cameras rolled around him during the 2009 season, which wasn’t a great year for the Patriots.
Tom Brady had returned from an injury the year prior, and the team wasn’t all there; they made the playoffs but exited in the first round. Still, seeing Belichick behind the scenes as both a hyper-focused coach and, at moments, a reminder that he’s human like the rest of us made for a fun inside look at one of the greatest coaches of all time.
12
‘The Brady Six’ (2011)
199 picks of hindsight
Following his second league MVP season in 2010 came this one-hour documentary, The Brady Six. Rather than focusing solely on the GOAT, it’s also a story about the 2000 quarterback draft class. Six quarterbacks were taken ahead of Brady, and by the time the documentary aired, only a couple were still in the league and barely hanging on to roster spots.
The film doesn’t poke fun at the other QBs’ skills; instead, it examines the inexact science of drafting and how general managers sometimes don’t know what they’re looking for until it smacks them in the face. A great moment comes in the climactic ending, when the scouting report on Brady is read aloud – all the disheartening critiques of the man who would become the GOAT – and then Brady’s dad, Tom Sr., chimes in: “They missed the most important part, heart; they didn’t understand what drives somebody.”
11
‘Undefeated’ (2011)
The Underdog Story That Earned an Oscar
You can’t lose them all. Undefeated is a documentary directed by Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin about Manassas, a North Memphis high school whose football program had never won a playoff game in its 110-year history. The film follows the 2009 season, when head coach Bill Courtney turned the long-struggling Tigers around and led them to their first postseason win.
Most documentaries on this list have positive themes, but Undefeated is the most upfront about it. It’s a movie about overcoming life’s difficult circumstances and about the lessons that come through hard work and dedication. It sounds generic, but there’s so much to cheer for in this film and this team, as the underdogs are given the chance to thrive.
10
‘L.T. Life and Times’ (2013)
The Unflinching Portrait of a Defensive Legend
It was Bill Belichick who said, “I wouldn’t put anybody ahead of Lawrence Taylor”. He would know – he coached him for about a decade. LT: Life and Times was a Showtime-produced documentary exploring the life of one of the baddest players to ever lace up a pair of cleats.
Lawrence Taylor may go down as one of the greatest defensive players in football history. But if you’re going to tell the story of his battles on the field, you have to tell the story of his battles off it, too. Taylor discusses his issues in a frank way, addressing his drug problems and the legal troubles that landed him in hot water. It’s an honest look at an athlete who has struggled in his post-football life.
9
’51 Dons’ (2014)
Undefeated, Untied, and Uninvited
’51 Dons offers a glimpse into a unique moment in football history. The 1951 San Francisco Dons took a firm stand against racism in support of their teammates despite societal pressures. The team, which included future NFL stars, declined an invitation to the Orange Bowl after being told they could only compete on the condition that their two African-American players, Ollie Matson and Burl Toler, were excluded. Despite financial pressures to keep the program afloat, they turned down the event and the funds.
The undefeated university team cemented its place in history by making the unprecedented decision to forgo a prestigious bowl to stand up for the morals built on team bonding. The documentary shows both the importance of that bond and the result of their decision. It also shows how far the sport has come since a darker period when such exclusion was deemed acceptable.
8
‘Four Falls of Buffalo’ (2015)
So Close, Four Times Over
Buffalo Bills fans have had a lot to cheer about lately, with their team finally on the mend after losing four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s. Four Falls of Buffalo was an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary covering exactly that – a brilliantly produced film about a Bills team that looked and played like deserving champions but fell short four times in a row.
Bills Mafia has always been supportive; they’re one of the most loyal fan bases out there. This film gives the city of Buffalo, its fans, and its team a lot of respect despite those frustrating losses. It almost makes you want to be a Bills fan.
7
‘This Was the XFL’ (2017)
The Boldest Swing the NFL Ever Shrugged Off
This Was the XFL takes its title from a play on Vince McMahon’s opening speech at kickoff for the league’s first-ever game. Founded by Dick Ebersol and McMahon, the new football league was meant to go toe-to-toe with the NFL but failed miserably in the ratings. It launched at the height of WWE’s popularity in the early 2000s, with McMahon using one brand to promote the other. In the end, it was just lackluster football.
McMahon would revive the XFL again for a 2020 season that ended in shambles, this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An ambitious and controversial figure in American media, McMahon resigned from WWE following allegations of misconduct. The XFL might be a monument to his ambition and poorly thought-out plans.
6
‘Year of the Scab’ (2017)
All the Guts, None of The Glory
This film chronicles the 1987 Washington Redskins (now known as the Commanders) during the season when replacement players – “scabs” – took the field amid the players’ strike. The documentary offers an in-depth look at the experiences of those replacements and how they’re still viewed negatively today, despite the team posting an 11-4 record (the season was shortened by the strike) and ultimately defeating the Denver Broncos 42-10 in Super Bowl XXII.
Part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, Year of the Scab carries the apt tagline “All the Guts. None of the Glory,” exploring the maligned players of the 1987 Redskins. It digs into their stories and how their chance to shine was overshadowed by the “scab” label, which meant they competed for just one season despite an impressive run. The film also sheds light on an often-overlooked period of football history, with the strike now a distant memory for most.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
