Legendary NFL Coach John Madden Calls New Faith-Based Film "One of the Greatest Football Stories Ever Told"

Rusty Wright : Aug 18, 2014
ASSIST News Service

"It's about community... religious beliefs... everything that's important in life." -John Madden

(Mount Herman, CA)—Could a football coach who teaches his players that character trumps winning... win games? Consistently? (Photo via ANS)

It's happened—and quite dramatically—inspiring the film "When the Game Stands Tall", opening August 22.

Coach Bob Ladouceur led a struggling, obscure, Catholic California high school team to record-shattering national prominence by helping his players mature toward adulthood.

Ladouceur's (pronounced "LAD-a-sir") De La Salle Spartans won 151 straight games, a record for football at any level. (To compare, Oklahoma University won 47 straight; the NFL's New England Patriots 21 straight.) Rating services crowned them National High School Football Champions at least eight times.

This inspiring film (Sony/TriStar) features Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ, CBS-TV's Person of Interest), Alexander Ludwig (The Hunger Games), Laura Dern (The Fault in Our Stars, Jurassic Park), and Michael Chiklis (TV's Vegas, The Shield).

"Winning a lot of football games is doable," explains Ladouceur (Caviezel) in the film. "Teaching kids there's more to life? That's hard."

The film focuses on how players and coaches cope with The Streak's end, plus a former teammate's murder and the coach's heart attack. "It's not how hard you fall," reads the tagline, "it's how you get back up."

In this gritty story, a coach struggles to help his players make sense out of loss and tragedy while grappling with his own confusion and doubt. We see many contrasts: dreams shattered and fulfilled, family joys and conflict, selfish pettiness and stirring nobility. (Photo via ANS)

Legendary NFL coach and commentator John Madden called the Ladouceur/De La Salle saga "one of the greatest football stories ever told. There's a lot more to it than X's and O's. [It has] life lessons... for everyone... about commitment, dedication, responsibility, friendship, brotherhood. And what you learn from those lessons is much bigger and more important than The Streak. It's about community; religious beliefs; everything that's important in life."

Coach "Lad" (now retired) focused on accountability, preparation, bonding and hard work. Players set personal goals—for conditioning, practice, game performance, etc.—then held each other accountable, so each could thrive.

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