The Game of Their Lives
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
David Halberstam
Bobby Mitchell
Pat Summerall
Chuck Bednarik
Liev Schreiber
Jon Arnett
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Documentary that focuses on the coming-of-age of American professional football in the 1950s. Professional football traces its roots back to the roaring '20s, but it was not until the post-war 1950s, as the nation changed and the boom in TV-set ownership began, that professional football became increasingly more important to the national sports psyche. Even as the NFL started to adapt to the times and grow in popularity, the life of a player was radically different than that of today's athletes. Road games meant long train trips. Low pay forced players to hold two or three jobs during the year. Players' conditioning and fitness programs were unsophisticated, and the head coach controlled all aspects of the team and often players' lives on and off the field.
