From
If you're naming off great sports films, " " and " " are probably high on that list.A new film called " " is coming out this fall. Written by the same screenwriter of those films, , this time his focus is Texas football 鈥� more specifically Freddie Steinmark.
Steinmark was a standout University of Texas football player back in the late '60s. He helped lead the team to a national championship in 1969, in what was dubbed the
"This story had so much attention from the country that we were compelled 鈥� not just by our editors but the public. They wanted to know every detail we could get," says former UPI reporter Preston Kirk.
More than 40 years after the national championship 鈥� even at Steinmark's alma mater 鈥� only a few students know any details of his story. "My All American" shows the details are worth remembering: the fight to join a college team, the triumph of the big game, and a post-game drama that鈥檚 a real tear jerker.
鈥淐oming in as a freshman you learn two things: You learn the fight song and you learn the story of Freddie Steinmark,鈥� says former Longhorn quarterback Case McCoy.
For McCoy, who has a small part in the film, "My All American" makes him feel he鈥檚 keeping Steinmark鈥檚 legacy alive. 鈥淲hen you ran out of the tunnel before a game, you touched Freddie Steinmark鈥檚 picture, and the words around him of courage and pride,鈥� he says.
For this film, "Rudy" and "Hoosiers" writer Angelo Pizzo also took on the role of director.
"I didn鈥檛 have the grand plan to be a director," he says. "I just wanted the opportunity to do the movie in my mind that I transcribed to the page and see it all the way through to the end."
鈥淢y All American鈥� is similar to 鈥淩udy鈥� in that it's about an undersized football player with enormous heart. But Rudy wasn鈥檛 a football star; Steinmark was. Pizzo says another big difference between the two films is just how 鈥渢rue鈥� the true story is.
鈥淕enerally when you see stories that are supposedly based on a true story, you鈥檙e lucky if they鈥檙e 50 percent true," Pizzo says. "You have to compress and composite characters, and in 'Rudy' I did a lot of that.鈥�
Pizzo says 鈥淩udy鈥� was about 75 percent true, while 鈥淢y All American鈥� is more like 90 percent. That鈥檚 because backers, including third generation UT alum and executive producer Bud Brigham, insisted on it.
鈥淭his had so much depth and so much richness," Brigham says. "You couldn鈥檛 have made anything up that would have been any better."
Pizzo says one challenge of this film was just how great a guy Steinmark was. He wasn鈥檛 a flawed character who overcomes his faults.
鈥淚 tried and I tried. I couldn鈥檛 find anybody who had anything bad to say about him," Pizzo says. "He didn鈥檛 miss class, he didn鈥檛 miss going to mass everyday. He was as perfect a human being as I鈥檝e ever come across."
But this film isn鈥檛 just about a perfect human being. It鈥檚 about a young man who faced uncommon challenges 鈥� especially off the football field.
And here鈥檚 the difficulty of telling a true story: anyone who cares to research it can find out the ending, but Pizzo encourages you not to Google the details.
鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 a more interesting and emotional journey if you don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� he says.
鈥淢y All American鈥� is in theaters November 13.
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
