10 greatest fictional football players of all time

2. WR Rod Tidwell (Arizona Cardinals)

The motion picture Jerry McGuire has its share of memorable lines and a few of them were produced by Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rod Tidwell. Cuba Cooding Jr. earned an Academy Award for his performance of the confident performer looking for a big payday.

He is represented by McGuire, played by Tom Cruise, who would eventually make “all the right moves” in getting Tidwell some serious “quan.”

There is a little drama when late in a Monday night home game against the Dallas Cowboys, Tidwell appears to be injured. He eventually gets up and entertains the crowd with a little end zone dancing. It’s after that game that the Cardinals show him the money.

1. QB Paul Crewe (Mean Machine)

The original remains the standard.

After stealing his girlfriend’s car and eventually giving it a “bath,” former star quarterback Paul “Wrecking” Crewe (who once took money to throw a game) is arrested and sent to Citrus State Prison.

Crewe (played by Burt Reynolds) is approached by Warden Hazen about his own semi-pro football team made up of prison guards. When it’s all said and done, there will be a game between the guards (loaded with former real NFL stars such as Ray Nitschke and Joe Kapp) and inmates.

Of course, Crewe must put a team together and he finds some talent. Eventually, there’s a game and the inmates are holding their own against Hazen’s club. The warden approaches Crewe at halftime and attempts to blackmail him into being blamed for a murder.

Crewe obliges but after spotting the guards a 35-13 lead, has a change of heart. He rallies the club via 23 unanswered points and a 36-35 victory.

It’s not quite 28-3 (Super Bowl LI) but it made for a helluva game.