Rewatchables Reference

• The second trade with Seattle – Sonny fleecing Tom Michaels to get all his picks back. The 'pancake eating motherfucker' line, plus 'It's Jeff Carson, Tommy.'
• Chadwick Boseman's first scene as Vontae Mack.
• The Ralph/birthday party reveal ('Ask me who wasn't there').
• Vontae Mack's reaction to being drafted #1.

• Chadwick Boseman as Vontae Mack – great sports movie character, super likable, only in a few scenes but dominates them.
• The movie itself as a cable/streaming/airplane movie.
• Use of real ESPN telecast footage and broadcasting at the actual 2013 draft.
• The Browns doing crazy stuff on draft day (the real 2014 Browns draft was even crazier).
• 'Don't Twitter' advice to Vontae Mack (early 'never tweet' movement).
• Denis Leary as head coach (realistic).
• Frank Langella as the owner – wearing sunglasses in every scene, knows nothing about football.
• Mike Mayock appearing in the movie and now actually making real draft decisions as Raiders GM.

• P. Diddy as the sports agent – unconvincing.
• Jennifer Garner as the salary cap expert – no chemistry with Costner, cliched 'hot woman who knows sports' trope.
• Every Roger Goodell cameo – fans cheering him when in real life he was being booed lustily by this era.
• The NFL's involvement sapping the movie of edge – too chaste, only one F-bomb.
• Seattle being the incompetent foil team (they had just won the Super Bowl with Russell Wilson).

• Bill: Patrick St. Esprit as Tom Michaels (Seattle GM) – 'anytime I see him in anything else I'm like oh it's the Seahawks GM.'
• Mallory: W. Earl Brown as Ralph; Brad William Henke as the strength coach Tony Bradley.

Denis Leary as Coach Penn – 'I chose to coach this team. Not the team you're putting together in your head on the fly because your old man died last week and you're tapping one of your execs.'

• Sam Elliott – dominates the entire movie with one scene. 'My finest work.' 'Don't overthink this like your dad would have.'
• Frank Langella as Anthony Molina (wearing sunglasses the entire film).
• Chadwick Boseman (only in ~4 scenes but great).

Bill recasts Jennifer Garner's role with Eva Mendes – 'let's dial it up... let's go even sexier.'

The 21st-century Cleveland Browns – the last 15 minutes of this movie may be the happiest moment the Browns have had this century.

• The Browns owner getting from Radio City Music Hall back to Cleveland in ~40 minutes (impossible).
• Bo Callahan's 21st birthday party – unbelievable that zero of 85 scholarship teammates showed up.
• The $100 bill playbook trick – they've been using it for years and no agents have caught on?
• Bo Callahan's draft profile has his height listed differently in two spots (6'4" and 6'3").
• 'Bo's Pac-12' website – Wisconsin is a Big Ten school.
• No other team trades up for Bo Callahan as he falls (most unrealistic element per Mallory).

No. But a Hard Knocks-style show around the draft could be compelling.

• What actually happened at Bo Callahan's 21st birthday party?
• What kind of career did Bo Callahan actually have? Bill thinks great; Mallory's comp: Matt Leinart.
• What PEDs is Brian Drew on? Throwing 15 yards further and squatting 400 after surgery.

Kevin Costner – obviously. As Costner said about the 'pancake eating motherfucker' line: 'The audience literally finds itself rooting for this one idea to happen... it's absolute justice, it's absolute poetry.'

• Andrew Brandt (former Packers exec) shredded the movie: 'lacking any true description of how an NFL team operates.'
• The $100 bill playbook trick was a famous JaMarcus Russell story.
• One screenwriter (Rajiv Joseph) is from Cleveland.
• Frank Langella had previously played a sports team owner in Eddie (with Whoopi Goldberg).