Quiet Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) joins the Chicago Bears and is befriended by the brash Brian Piccolo (James Caan). It starts off with Piccolo playing a joke on Sayers telling him that coach Halas (Jack Warden) is deaf in one ear. Sayers returns the favor. They compete for the same job. Sayers is the sure thing. Piccolo is too slow and too light. The team decides to room the two together in 1965 based on position rather than race. The two and their wives become great friends enduring many challenges.
In the ashes of the racial strife of the previous decade, this TV movie hits on the timely subject by showing the healing powers of a post-racial true friendship. The modernity of their relationship allowed the viewers to get pass all their hang ups. That's why the nigg*r scene works so well. James Caan is brilliant and he follows it up with the iconic 'The Godfather'. Billy Dee's Sayers starts off quiet but then turns up the heat. The only thing truly missing is some better football scenes. The use of real game footage to augment the inferior footage with the actors helps a little. I wish it could be done more seamlessly but that may be asking too much. This is definitely a melodrama and viewers have to be prepared for it.
In the ashes of the racial strife of the previous decade, this TV movie hits on the timely subject by showing the healing powers of a post-racial true friendship. The modernity of their relationship allowed the viewers to get pass all their hang ups. That's why the nigg*r scene works so well. James Caan is brilliant and he follows it up with the iconic 'The Godfather'. Billy Dee's Sayers starts off quiet but then turns up the heat. The only thing truly missing is some better football scenes. The use of real game footage to augment the inferior footage with the actors helps a little. I wish it could be done more seamlessly but that may be asking too much. This is definitely a melodrama and viewers have to be prepared for it.