Ready, set, hike! A good football flick will have you cheering from your couch like you’re watching your home team pull off a game-clinching play from the stadium stands. Classic football movies stir up those warm fuzzies because the sport itself can be so inspiring — the underdog comebacks, the life-altering opportunities, and the camaraderie between teammates. If you’re the kind of fan who tracks every update of the 2026–2027 NFL season — from the preseason beginning Aug. 6 to the Super Bowl — you might be wanting even more football for your football. Luckily, you can watch plenty of football films and sports documentaries in between NFL games on Netflix. Learn more about the season’s schedule on Tudum.
When you’re not streaming live games, harken back to some well-loved nostalgic stories, including Rudy’s odds-defying journey to Notre Dame and Coach Gary Gaines’s fight for Texas football greatness. Read on to learn more.
Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) has a dream: to play football for the University of Notre Dame. But he lacks the money, grades, and stature to do so. Instead, he takes a factory job alongside his best friend, Pete (Christopher Reed). When Pete dies in a tragic accident, Rudy vows to invest in himself. He enrolls at a less competitive university in the hopes of transferring and befriends teaching assistant D-Bob (Jon Favreau) and Notre Dame groundskeeper Fortune (Charles S. Dutton). They help Rudy uncover new skills and believe in himself. Directed by David Anspaugh (Hoosiers), this 1993 biographical drama is based on a true story, following Rudy’s journey from lifelong fan to on-field hero. Lili Taylor (There There) also stars.
Director Peter Berg’s 2004 sports drama is based on H.G. Bissinger’s 1990 book and stars Billy Bob Thornton (Bad News Bears) as Gary Gaines, the head coach of the Permian High School football team in Odessa, Texas. The gridiron-obsessed town’s high expectations of both Gaines and his players prove nearly overwhelming. As they take hits on and off the field, the team will have to come together under Coach Gaines’s leadership to achieve their town’s state championship dream — and secure their own futures. Derek Luke (13 Reasons Why), Jay Hernandez (The Long Game), Lucas Black (Legion), Garrett Hedlund (Mudbound), Tim McGraw (The Blind Side), and Connie Britton (Nashville) co-star.
George Clooney (Jay Kelly) directs and stars in this 2008 sports comedy as Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly, the captain of the Bulldogs, a faltering 1920s football team who dreams of capturing the country’s attention. With the sport on the brink of collapse, Dodge recruits star player Carter “the Bullet” Rutherford (John Krasinski), hoping to capitalize on his fame as a World War I hero. But football’s big comeback is threatened when reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) goes digging into Carter’s past and discovers that his wartime heroics might have been greatly exaggerated. She also strikes up relationships with both men, putting their burgeoning friendship and working relationship to the test. Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) and Stephen Root (Widow’s Bay) also star.
