Movies like American Underdog (2021)
The best movies like American Underdog (2021) are Touchback (2011), Fantasy Football (2022) and Safety (2020). If American Underdog hooked you with its drama and family, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Blind Side (2009)7.7/10 from 7,088 votes
- NewestThe Senior (2025)Released 2025
Touchback (2011)
A former high-school football star loses his shot at a college scholarship due to a devastating gridiron injury, but gets a second chance at living his dream.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFantasy Football (2022)
When young Callie Coleman discovers she can magically control her father Bobby's football performance, she transforms him from a fumble-prone journeyman into a star running back.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family
Safety (2020)
The story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey, a freshman football player for Clemson University, who secretly raised his younger brother on campus after his home life became too unsteady.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUnderdogs (2013)
The story of a small-town high school football team in rural Ohio destined to play their cross-town rival, a perennial powerhouse, while standing up for an entire community.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Greater (2016)
The incredible true story of the greatest walk-on in the history of college football.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhen the Game Stands Tall (2014)
A young coach turns a losing high school football program around to go undefeated for 12 consecutive seasons.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy All American (2015)
Freddie Steinmark, an underdog on the gridiron, faces the toughest challenge of his life after leading his team to a championship season.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInvincible (2006)
Inspired by the true story of Vince Papale, a man with nothing to lose who ignored the staggering odds and made his dream come true. When the coach of Papale's beloved hometown football team hosted an unprecedented open tryout, the public consensus was that it was a waste of time – no one good enough to play professional football was going to be found this way.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDraft Day (2014)
At the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Longshots (2008)
The true story of Jasmine Plummer who, at the age of eleven, became the first female to play in Pop Warner football tournament in its 56-year history.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFacing the Giants (2006)
A losing coach with an underdog football team faces their giants of fear and failure on and off the field to surprising results.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Express (2008)
Follow the inspirational life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Senior (2025)
At 59, Mike Flynt may be too old to be on a college football field, but not too old to feel the weight of unfinished business. After nearly four decades, he returns to his alma mater to take the hit that changed everything. Bruised, doubted, and nearly broken, he pushes for one more game, not for glory, but for the teammates he lost, the family he fractured, and the ending he still believes is possible.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Any Given Sunday (1999)
A star quarterback gets knocked out of the game and an unknown third stringer is called in to replace him. The unknown gives a stunning performance and forces the aging coach to reevaluate his game plans and life. A new co-owner/president adds to the pressure of winning. The new owner must prove herself in a male dominated world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Champions (2021)
A star quarterback ignites a players’ strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation, equality, and respect for the athletes who put their bodies and health on the line for their schools.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarter High (2015)
The true story of four student athletes from Carter High School in Dallas, Texas in the 1980s, whose bright futures irrevocably changed due to their off-field activities.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Rudy (1993)
Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisConcussion (2015)
A dramatic thriller based on the incredible true David vs. Goliath story of American immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known. Omalu's emotional quest puts him at dangerous odds with one of the most powerful institutions in the world.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFriday Night Lights (2004)
A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWoodlawn (2015)
Love and unity in a school torn by racism and hate in the 1970s. A gifted high school football player must learn to embrace his talent and his faith as he battles racial tensions on and off the field.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWe Are Marshall (2006)
When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Blind Side (2009)
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYou Gotta Believe (2024)
After dedicating the season to a teammate’s ailing father, a group of underestimated Ft. Worth youth baseball players takes its Cinderella run all the way to the 2002 Little League World Series—culminating in a record-breaking showdown that became an instant ESPN classic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both family & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRemember the Titans (2000)
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMcFarland, USA (2015)
A track coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Long Game (2024)
In a segregated Texas, five Mexican-American teenage caddies were prohibited from playing at the country club where they worked. Against all odds, they formed their own team, built a one-hole course in the fields, and won the 1957 Texas State championship. Based on a true story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Sunday Horse (2016)
After a near-fatal accident, on a horse the experts thought was nothing special, a determined rider from the wrong side of the tracks defies all the odds to pursue her dreams of winning a national jumping championship.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNever Heard (2018)
After Aaron is charged with murder, he uses the power of prayer to help prove his innocence turning his life around and saving his son Jalen from the street life before it is too late.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & family
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for two years to achieve his dream of buying two red-bone coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in life as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with his dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWhere the Red Fern Grows (2003)
Set in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression, Billy Coleman works hard and saves his earnings for 2 years to achieve his dream of buying two coonhound pups. He develops a new trust in God as he faces overwhelming challenges in adventure and tragedy roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with "Old Dan" and "Little Ann."
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & family
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like American Underdog?
The closest matches to American Underdog are Touchback (2011), Fantasy Football (2022) and Safety (2020). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after American Underdog?
People who watched American Underdog most often go on to Touchback (2011), Fantasy Football (2022) and Safety (2020).
What is the highest-rated movie like American Underdog?
The Blind Side (2009), rated 7.7/10 by 7,088 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like American Underdog?
The Senior (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like American Underdog?
Yes: Touchback (2011), Fantasy Football (2022) and Safety (2020).
How are movies similar to American Underdog chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside American Underdog, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.