See the top 11 football speeches that fire us up
11. The Rock, 'Gridiron Gang'
Probation officer Sean Porter may be new at this coaching thing, but he's got the lingo down pat as he fires up his tough team of juvies with the words, "Even though you're locked up, you're somebody ... Are you ready to accept the Mustang challenge?" Wait a minute -- haven't we heard that in a car commercial somewhere?
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10. Goldie Hawn, 'Wildcats'
Four points behind at the half? No need to fret when Molly McGrath is calling the shots for the inner-city Central High 'Wildcats.' She rallies the troops with her "pride and guts" pep talk, though McGrath has no answer for Wesley Snipes' vulgar retort. Hey, who needs dangerous minds when you have dangerous football players?
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9. Billy Dee Williams, 'Brian's Song'
Sayers' "heart of a giant" speech is a classic, but for game-time inspiration, we'll go with this locker-room weeper in which Sayers, upon learning that his friend Brian Piccolo (James Caan) is dying of cancer, exhorts his teammates to "give the game ball to Pic." (Sob.)
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8. Gene Hackman,
'The Replacements'
"Welcome to professional football," Coach McGinty says to his motley crew of "replacement" players before their first game. "There are some who will say that ... you're not real players. That this isn't a real team." And how does McGinty answer such belittling? "That is bull-expletive!"
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7. Jon Voight, 'Varsity Blues'
Texas high school football isn't just a game. "This game is 48 minutes ... for the next 48 years of your life," Coach Kilmer tells his Coyotes in hopes of leading them to the school's 23rd district title. Sounds like something a coach who's only won a lousy 22 championships would say.
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6. Billy Bob Thornton, 'Friday Night Lights'
More fun with Texas high school football! Coach Gaines paints a little bit of a grim picture: "It's a good day to think about responsibility ... to protect this school, and this team, and this town." But, no pressure or anything, boys. At least he tells them they're going to win State (which, alas, they don't).
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5. James Caan, 'The Program'
How do you pump up your players before a game? You've got to remind them what they're playing for, praise them for their hard work, give 'em a little hell. And if you're Coach Winters at Eastern State, you've also got to bring the crazy. Watch the clip below and then shout it out with us: "WE'RE GONNA RING THE BELL!"
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4. Charles S. Dutton, 'Rudy'
What do you do if you're "five feet nothing, a hundred and nothing," and you're sick of riding the Notre Dame bench? Well, if you're Rudy (Sean Astin), you'd better stick it out, because not only do you still have to be carried off the field at the end of the season, but facilities manager Fortune's also gonna kick your ass if you quit.
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3. Al Pacino, 'Any Given Sunday'
Pacino's beleaguered Sharks coach gets all introspective and deep in his speech, admitting personal regrets ("I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make"), waxing philosophical ("Life's a game of inches, so is football") and professing gloom ("We're in hell").
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2. Denzel Washington, 'Remember the Titans'
Based on a real-life high school coach, Herman Boone wasn't just leading a team but uniting a segregated Virginia town as well. "That football field out there, that's our universe," he tells his once divided, now harmonious (mostly) squad before its decisive opening game. "Let's rule it like Titans."
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1. Ronald Reagan, 'Knute Rockne All American'
As Notre Dame halfback George Gipp, Reagan nailed his juicy deathbed speech -- "Someday, when the team's up against it ... ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper" -- and then got to reuse it 40 years later in his presidential campaign. Hail to the Gipper!
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The Gang's All Here
The Rock stars as probation officer Sean Porter, a former jock who knows the adolescent inmates at Camp Kilpatrick are capable of better. To that end, he forms a high school football squad full of dedicated, determined athletes -- who just happen to be convicted criminals, hoping to prove society wrong.
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Ready to 'RocknRolla'
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