In anticipation of Super Bowl Sunday, Film Independent’s staff is geeking out on football flicks— because even NFL haters can get goose bumps from a kick ass locker room-motivational-speech scene.

Favorite football film moment of all time?

Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday may not be a masterpiece, but Coach Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) delivers this iconic locker room speech to Miami Sharks quarterback Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) and his teammates, including NFL legend Lawrence Taylor. But hey, if dramatic monologues aren’t your thing, try this.

-Cooper Hopkins, Website & Database Manager

The speech in Any Given Sunday by Al Pacino is the greatest football scene in my opinion.

-Eric Solomon, Corporate Sponsorship Manager

In the Oscar-winning doc Undefeated when Coach Bill Courtney tells his bad-seed underdogs that “the character of a man is not measured in how he handles his wins but what he does with his failures.” Cue the Kleenex. Courtney’s “900 claps” motivational speech is pretty kick-ass too. (Pacino’s got nothing on this guy.)

-Pamela Miller, Website & Grants Manager

The Last Boy Scout opening scene.

-Will Slocombe, Events Coordinator

Remember the Titans: the turning point at training camp where Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier overlook their differences: “LEFT SIDE, STRONG SIDE!”

-Jason Bucy, Production Coordinator

In Remember the Titans when the team jogged to the Gettysburg battlefield. The team reaches the destination exhausted from their journey, and Coach Boone delivers a heartfelt speech about the men who died on that field. He explains how they are still fighting the same fight and continues to open their minds and tells them “to take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were.” He finishes off by saying, “I don’t care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other. And maybe… I don’t know, maybe we’ll learn to play this game like men.”

-Danielle, Intern

If I say The Waterboy, folks would think I’m trivial. But that is my favorite “Foosball” movie. Alas, due to its comical tone, there isn’t really a grand moment. On a serious note, I will say that my favorite football film moment is in Remember the Titans. The locker room scene where the boys bond over “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” It’s a fun scene and shows the camaraderie between an interracial team in a time when that was unheard of.

-Marvel Zamora, Corporate Sponsorship Assistant

Any Given Sunday: great cast and eye candy. :o) LOL

-Rosalind Williams, Finance & Admin. Assistant

Best performance as a player or coach?

Chris Penn in All the Right Moves.

-Will

I was going to say Al Pacino, but since I know no one else will mention it, how about ANY lead actor in Varsity Blues? Crazy-eyed Jon Voight, the late Paul Walker and James Van Der Beek as BFFs, Scott Caan basically playing a version of himself…  the parody was even better, though.

-Cooper

Burt Reynolds as quarterback football star Paul Crewe in the 70’s classic The Longest Yard.

-Anthony Ferranti / Intern

Going back to Remember the Titans; Denzel Washington, or Robert ‘Bobby’ Boucher, Jr. (The Waterboy)

-Marvel

Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday.

-Jason

Denzel Washington in Remember The Titans.

-Eric

My pick is from TV: “Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.” (Can Kyle “Coach Taylor” Chandler be my dad?)

-Pamela

Denver or Seattle?

Denver, per Homer.

-Will

Yawn. My three teams: Jets (I heart Rex); Steelers (my hometown team); and the Saints (because as the wonderful Wendell Pierce puts it “New Orleans is the last bohemia.”)

-Pamela

I am a die-hard San Francisco 49ers fan so I hope the Broncos put a hurting on those Seahawks!

-Danielle

Denver. [Because] orange and blue looks better than neon green and blue?

-Marvel

Denver = Hometown.

-Rosalind

Denver—just to see Manning, one of the greatest ever, win another championship.

-Jason

Seattle. Because of Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman and fellow University of Washington alum Jermaine Kearse. That’s right, I was born in Seattle. GO SEAHAWKS!

-Cooper