From ‘The Replacements’ to ‘The Blind Side’: 5 American football films to get you ready for Super Bowl weekend

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs will go head to head in Florida for the Super Bowl LV

Denzel Washington portrays real-life football coach, Herman Boone, who battled racism and injustice to put together a team of black and white players in a newly desegregated Virginia school in 'Remember The Titans'. ShutterstockShow less

If you're an American football fan gearing up for the Super Bowl this weekend, it's never too early to start getting into the swing of things. Having your team colours ready is a must, whether you're supporting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as a cupboard stocked with those all-important half-time snacks.

But what will really get you in the mood for this year’s highly anticipated showdown is to re-watch some classic football movies.

From the feel-good, Oscar-winning The Blind Side, to the tear-jerking We Are Marshall, here are five footie films to kick off Super Bowl Sunday …

‘The Blind Side’

Based on a true story, this ultimate feel-good film netted Sandra Bullock a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the real-life Leigh Anne Tuohy.

Along with her family, Tuohy takes in homeless football player Michael Oher after seeing him at her children’s school. Tuohy immediately sets about making Oher part of the family, which means tracking down his scattered relatives in order to adopt him.

Thanks to his new home and additional tuition, Oher overcomes his troubled, chaotic childhood to make the high school football team, going on to play for the University of Mississippi before going pro.

During an eight-year career in the NFL, he played for the Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.

‘Remember the Titans’

This 2000 film is based on the real-life story of Herman Boone (played by Denzel Washington), an African-American coach hired to run the football programme and bond the team at the newly integrated TC Williams High School, in Virginia, in the 1970s.

Racial tensions run high as the white coach, Bill Yoast, who used to run the team, is seconded to Boone, and the pair must overcome their own issues if they are to inspire their boys to victory.

‘We Are Marshall’

Football is the catalyst that reunites a town and school destroyed by grief in the Matthew McConaughey-starring 'We Are Marshall'. Courtesy Warner Bros

Tissues at the ready for this biopic about the 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people, including 37 players from the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, as well as five coaches.

Matthew McConaughey stars as head coach Jack Lengyel, who is brought in to rebuild the team from the ground up, alongside assistant coach William "Red" Dawson (Matthew Fox).

Against the backdrop of a grieving town and student body, Lengyel pulls together 18 rookies from across the college sports teams and creates the Young Thundering Herds, who take to the field with no expectations except to inspire.

‘Friday Night Lights’

Billy Bob Thornton stars as coach Gary Gaines in this movie predecessor to the hit TV show. Courtesy Universal Pictures

The film that kicked off the super-successful TV show of the same name follows the Permian High School football team in Odessa, Texas, from pre-season training right up to the championships.

Billy Bob Thornton stars as coach Gary Gaines, who leads a stacked cast that includes Connie Britton (who would go on to star in the TV series), Garrett Hedlund, Lucas Black, Jay Hernandez and Amber Heard.

In Odessa, football is less a sport and more a religion, with the players afforded local celebrity status, as they try to lead their own normal teenage lives and all the drama that entails.

‘The Replacements’

Gene Hackman and Keanu Reeves put together an amateur football team in underdog movie, 'The Replacements'. Rex

When a players’ strike hits a pro football league with only four games left in the season, Washington Sentinels team owner Edward O’Neil enlists his former coach, Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman), to put together a team to finish the season.

If the team wins three out of four of their final games, they’ll make it to the playoffs. McGinty enlists former pro Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves), who quit the game years ago after a Super Bowl disaster.

They put together a band of misfits for a shot at glory.

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