The part where Gaines is taking the names off the board hits so hard for me. I remember the Monday after our last game coming into the field house to clean out our lockers and all the seniors names were already off the wall and the depth chart for the offseason workouts was already up. It was the death nail and the last strongest confirmation that it all really was over. I've moved on to better things and I have no regrets but it still hurts when I allow myself to really think about it.
I know what you mean. My last game was in 2017. I’m not really one of those guys that sits and talks about high school all the time but sometimes at night I’ll just get to thinking back at those days and I sure do miss playing. Glad I got to experience it and was able to make the memories
I graduated an '08, i sit back and still take stroll down that memory lane.. i miss it so much, and this film describes exactly how i felt. Infact i played this song, twice, one after the game and 2, the day after graduating and just staring at the field..
Mike throwing the football to the kids was the most significant scene of the movie.he is passing the torch on to the next generation of kids for them to begin there memory of high school.could not ended any better
An extremely close second I think was when Billingsley’s dad give him his state ring. His dad gave him hell throughout the whole movie, and at the end, recognized that he was just a kid and needed that support
no doubt, its such an emotional ending, as a former player its tough to lose in the championship game. I graduated in1985 and losing to Vero Beach my senior year was hurtful. The hardest schedule in the state of Florida that year AAAAA
Absolutely. As someone who played D1 in baseball, high school football is the pinnacle of most kids lives. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. Certainly from a brotherhood and competitive standpoint. It’s the closest most men these days get to war. Tough to understand if you never did it.
One of the best soundtracks ever. It’s both triumphant & tragic. It really captures that feeling of “don’t be sad because it’s over, be happy because it happened.”
@@smitty38401 yep everyday I drive past the field everyday and just remember every memory that I made.I will be 23 soon and man high school I miss it bad especially football.Every game I go to now isn’t the same as when you were on the food.
They captured the classic high school football journey. I know. I experienced this life in HS. I wouldnt do it again probably do my own thing rather than dedicate all of that time to this from 5th grade to Highschool... football is all we dreamed about. Other kids were having more fun while we were being punished by a abusive coaches and running miles and getting our asses whipped and getting pummeled by the seniors players who were going to play college..Concussions, heat exhaustion, sprained ankles, etc..
High school football is such a uniquely American coming of age experience. Kids who did it and enjoyed mostly agree it was the most fulfilling part of their childhood, for better and worse. So much effort, comraderie, fun, and disappointment. Teaches you a lot for life
You never realize how fun it was till it’s actually over. I remember hating those hot summer practices and workouts at 6 am in the summer and after my senior season I realized how much I really miss those workouts and practices in the summer and being with the guys I grew up with. We were having the time of our lives and didn’t even know it.
Despite the misery and pain of demanding practices during summer, it's worth it if a team makes it to state and becomes champion. That's got to be the most euphoric feeling on Earth. 💯
It's funny cause in Sling Blade Billy bob and Lucas Black played Football together. Now in FNL Billy bob is the coach and Lucas is his starting quarterback
Every guy that used to play some sport in high school ir even college feels so identified w this scene. Someday it was the last time u played a game w your friends and watching this scene take me back then........ great movie
I’m so thankful that final text was shown. That coach deserved it so much and it was a perfect way to end it. Powerful scene as Thornton’s character (coach) looks away and walks out of the picture.
I remember 2 years ago when my senior season came to an end after we got beat in the playoffs and we ended up finishing the season with an 11-1 record. When it was time to clean out our lockers, all of the seniors including myself were bawling our eyes out. We went through so much together and made memories together, and it’s such a sad feeling when all those fun times have to come to an end. Watching this scene makes me feel emotional and it takes me back to all those great times I had with my boys. Football is truly a brotherhood
I feel for you, leaving the locker room was hardest I ever cried. I was blessed to go to the next level but I will never forget my teammates in high school. Leaving my spikes as tradition at the home end will never leave me, this movie pulls all the cords, especially this scene.
i love that despite the fact that he led the team to a state championship the very next year the author of the book chose to focus on this particular season. the ending is devastating but also beautiful and it just captures so accurately what it means to make it so far and not win the ultimate prize. many other sports movies end in triumph; this one is more interesting, more powerful, and honestly more grounded because it ends in triumphant defeat.
That is sort of the point of the scene isn't it...life moves on. The season is barely over and the coach is flipping names of seniors into the "scrap heap". Every record I held in high school track has been broken, probably several times over by now. Very quickly, the only person who remembers that stuff is you. And...as my wife has told me, nobody wants to hear about it either (cue Glory Days by Springsteen). :)
Bob Dull your very right! It took me a while to finally accept the fact that my football career was over after my last game as a senior. But eventually I moved on and now that I have 2 sons playing in high school it really brings back some great memories. Sometimes I wish I could go back just to play one more game and definitely wish I was in good of shape as I was back then too haha.
Im going to miss my 2019 season as a senior playing football because we lost 1st round against undefeated duncanville and watching this scene is to emotional for me.Im going to miss my teammates and coaches..."keep those feet moving and be perfect “🤧😢🏈
I was a senior in high school first time I saw this. It made me sad because I knew this was inevitably coming for me. You grow up playing with your friends over the course of years then before you know it, it’s done. My coach always said to live in the moment. I totally get that now. Miss these days!
This hits so close to home. Lost the game before the championship. It has been 10 years since I played. This movie still makes me cry every single time
What’s really sad is that Carter won the State Championship but a-lot of the players got arrested for armed robbery and got their title stripped from them
Stay low boys. Keep those feet moving. It's a line that perfectly encapsulates so much about teamwork and determination. I've used this line in my own life to inspire myself and others.
American football is not played in my country but I grew up watching it ( mostly movies ) but I can relate to this scene as playing your last game for your school or any team can be very emotional.
One of the most bittersweet moments in my life was exactly this. Played high school football for all 4 years, then senior year when the season was over when me and the other seniors went in to clean out our lockers, walked out to the parking lot, and we all just looked back at the stadium before we went into our cars. Some small talk, some jokes. I remember just feeling sad, an amazing chapter of your life is closed but you’re happy you experienced it.
4 years ago I graduated high school.Football allows memories to be made that you remember it allows you to grow as a person. Life goes by so quick in a blink of a eye.I am currently 22 and man I wish I would have soaked those moments all in.The party after the game.The feeling of skipping school on a Friday morning just to meet up with the boys for lunch.I miss everything not just about football but high school.Miss seeing my girl before the game and that smile.Miss seeing the big hug she gave me after every hand win or loose. Best time of my life I would do anything to go back anything! Truth is I can’t go back I’m just stuck with the memories and learning to live life.#Thelights
When it comes to athletics I only ran track but I will say this; to this day I remember my senior year. The friends, football games, partying and talking to the girls. The carefree lifestyle just worried about getting into a college.
You clean your locker out for the last time, turn in your gear, and it’s over. For most of us, that was it. Never played football again. But it isn’t like we were saying goodbye. We still had half a school year left. A lot of us still hang out to this day. We will always be Bearcats, no matter where life takes us.
watching this with teammates makes this movie hit different. we watch the movie first day of summer camp to show how quickly it's all gonne go by, and why we gotta work hard and cherish every moment cause of how fast it can all be over. Every year saying good bye to the seniors is always the hardest part and it's hard to believe that I'm gonna be a senior this year and it honestly feels like I was robbed. Not just because of how fast everything went, but also because of COVID as a Sophomore I didn't get to have a full 10 game season (only 5) and our schools were online so that was one less year of a true experience
Not football related but I relate to this from a band aspect. Lame I know but those were the best times of high school. We were all really great friends, then after we graduated we all kind of moved on and did our own things and now no one keeps in touch.
Beat scene of the entire movie, when you’re in school you hate it, and when it is over you finally realize what it all meant and it’s hits you that you won’t see most of the people you’ve seen everyday for so many years anymore and how important it was to be there and go through it together and it fuckin sucks
Couldn’t have said it better. It goes by in the blink of an eye too. If only there was a way to know we were living in the good ole days before they were gone
@@bocephus6012 exactly man billingsleys dad is a dickhead but that’s basically what he’s saying and I always hated school and now I’d give anything to do it all over
@@blakecrosslin92 I just had my 10 year high school reunion and it almost felt like a different world going back to my hometown. 4 years in high school doesn’t seem long, but it’s just a blip when you think about it
The final text, that he went on to win an undefeated season and championship the next year, is such an unexpected, magnificent ending. I remember watching this with a friend and he just said "wow" at the closing words. They may have lost but it is their story that lives on. Truly one of my favorite endings to a movie, ever.
I’m so thankful that final text was shown. That coach deserved it so much and it was a perfect way to end it. Powerful scene as Thornton’s character (coach) looks away and walks out of the picture.
Never forget my last high school football game, we got the brakes beat off us by the eventual state champs. Had a rushing TD, and threw a pick on my final play of my career. I regret nothing. I never played a down of football after. The tears flowed, the memories will be there forever.
Most folks don’t understand; it’s a very sobering feeling; when you “know it’s over.” It can be Life Changing- one way or the other. And you never stop dreaming about “what could’ve been.” You never stop Dreaming.
This movie was my life. 4 years of high school varsity football 87 88 89 90. We were 45 and 7 with an undefeated season 14 and 0 in 89 with a state title. This movie still chokes me up at 51 yrs old.
You have no idea how real this scene is. I went to a big time texas school as well and we won state and came back to the locker room that following monday after school and the entire locker room was changed, the draft chart on the wall was changed, the numbers where given to juniors taking your place, the names in the lockers where already changed, you put your heart and soul into that uniform and now folded up in a box in your closet and probably won't be seen for many years. Same thing with college. I played for university of Texas for all 4 years. I onto started a handful of games from freshman to junior, then was a starter my senior year. Then finally same thing again. Go in to empty your locker and everything has changed. Names off the locker, names off the charts, and now your uniform is folded up in the same box with your high school uniform. And now you're married with kids.
this scene just shows the realities of football. these guys are deep in football country, played on one of the best HS teams and nearly won state championship and almost none of them went on to play football in college and they all ended up with regular jobs.
2022 - 2 weeks from my 25th birthday, I age and see all the younger kids at my church who now grow up playing pee-wees and midgets. One of the fathers was a part of the state championship team his senior year, and now his son is playing. Looking at how coach drops the names of all the seniors (and many before the ones in the movie) is something he’s done before. The same coach I played for coached the father of the young football player and, one day, he will coach the next generation of players. That’s really something that is mind boggling to me that no matter what year, the coaches never really age, regardless of how long they’ve been playing
I like to be believe those kids at the end where team in 94 or 95 that went to the state final or the teams in the late 90s with identity crisis with those black helmets.
Most people, even parents, don’t really understand what it means when a senior football player’s season ends. They don’t understand the true finality of it for 95% of these kids. You can play baseball/softball in rec leagues forever. You can always play a game of pick-up basketball. You can play golf and tennis as much as you want when you get older. You can run track and enter 5k or marathons till you die. But most high school football players will never ever put on a helmet and play the same game again. You go from being totally and completely immersed in a game you love to being totally and completely shut out from it. That is incredibly difficult. Football is not a lifetime sport....but high school football IS a once in a lifetime experience.
@@jrad410 yes it is! What I miss most about it is the feeling I’d get on Friday as soon as school let out if go home first if it was a home game sit in my room with the head phones on and listen to Eminem lose yourself on repeat lol I miss that and just being around the guys I played with like a at practice and suchZ it’s something I’ll never get to experience again. And I’m just glad I got the memories to look back on.
@@bocephus6012 definitely, this move hit me cuz my senior senior season ended in a similar fashion. My school was among the favorites to win state that season. Our first playoff game we had a lead but our chip shot FG got blocked at the end of regulation and then in overtime we were stopped 2 yards from the goaline on a 4&1. Got fortunate to see my team win a state title as a ball boy but in terms when I was playing just fell short. I still remember that loss to this day lol but the good times will always be special.
I know what you mean 4 years since my last game and I miss it. Great memories I’ll remember forever. You don’t realize how much fun it was until it’s gone.
Yeah of course they still see each other but they won’t ever be together in that locker room again or on the field together where you spent most of the time with them.
Idk about anyone else but if you played for a team with high expectations of you and had to be great then you know exactly how Mike felt at the end. Yeah he was gonna miss it and sad it was over but at the same time the stress is lifted he can enjoy the rest of his senior year. That’s how I felt at the end of the year I hated to see it end but I felt like I had a weight lifted off of me.
Gonna weigh in here on the opposite side of those who wish they could go back. Having played in a high stress / pressurized program in Ohio back in the 90s there was this very satisfying feeling, at least for me, when it all came to an end. Almost like a weight had been taken off me and my buddies and we were no longer tasked with "defending the town". It was someone else's turn. In fact, the following fall when I set foot on campus of my chosen large state university no one new me and no one cared who I was and it was nothing short of AWESOME. When you spend four years in a fish bowl, being a nobody suddenly becomes the greatest feeling in the world.
I wonder if Stoney Case is a little more than upset that the film depicts some kid named Wilkins as Winchell's back up on Coach Gaines depth chart in this scene? Case sat behind Winchell in '88, led the Panthers as the starting QB to a state title in '89, played four years of college football for New Mexico and was eventually drafted in the NFL's third round by the Arizona Cardinals in '95!!
Yep I graduated in 2017 and the memories you make dont hit you and you dont realize how fast it will go.One minute its two days in july the next its playoffs
I never felt a brotherhood for football because I never played it but I did have brotherhood in wrestling. The shitty things are what I'm gonna miss the most
I wrestled too, crazy looking back on all those memories. The weight cuts, not eating, feeling sick and tried during practice... but I kinda miss it in a weird way.
Same here cleaning that locker and then next semester not having football as my last block of the day at school was when it all really set in for me. It was really over. It had come and gone. I wish I could just go back for one Friday night and feel the butterflies and adrenaline rush as we ran through the banner and hear the crowd one more time. You don’t realize how fun it really was till it gone
When men play as a team they become brothers. Anyone who has ever played a team game knows that the guy on the team would walk into a war with you. And you would do the same. Everytime.
This scene hit hard because the day after my last football game my dad took me to our rival team’s playoff game and I seen a bunch of little kids playing football near the parking lot as we left and it made me think of this scene
Definitely! High school football is just special and even if you play college or nfl nothing can come close to the high school ball experience. And to understand that and the feeling you get after your senior season you have had to play to understand it. Baseball, basketball and even golf you can go to the field or court and play a pickup game of those pretty much at any age or play on recreational teams but for a lot of seniors after their last football game that’s the last time they will ever wear a helmet and pads and play a game for as long as they live. You’ll never play with that group of guys you’ve played with all the way from flag or peewee tackle through middle school and high school. And not knocking down the other sports but highs school football is one of the most relatable sports about life. I’ve moved on in life to bigger things but I’ll always miss those playing days and the bond I had with all the guys and the Friday feeling on game days and getting those butterflies before the game and I can tell you this too I learned more life lessons playing football Than I ever did in the classroom
The song, the scene, to be honest this is the most emotional yet satisfying movie ending ever!
I watched this movie when I was a kid. This song stayed with me to this day!!!
Don’t even need to watch the full movie to get put into tears
I agree!
This same song is played in the tv show
The score was fantastic.
The part where Gaines is taking the names off the board hits so hard for me. I remember the Monday after our last game coming into the field house to clean out our lockers and all the seniors names were already off the wall and the depth chart for the offseason workouts was already up. It was the death nail and the last strongest confirmation that it all really was over. I've moved on to better things and I have no regrets but it still hurts when I allow myself to really think about it.
I know what you mean. My last game was in 2017. I’m not really one of those guys that sits and talks about high school all the time but sometimes at night I’ll just get to thinking back at those days and I sure do miss playing. Glad I got to experience it and was able to make the memories
No regrets like Riggins…
@@bocephus6012 you’ll miss it more the older you get and the harder it is to remember. 18 years ago was the last game for me.
I graduated an '08, i sit back and still take stroll down that memory lane.. i miss it so much, and this film describes exactly how i felt. Infact i played this song, twice, one after the game and 2, the day after graduating and just staring at the field..
@@michaelmeathammer5688 I still miss it and my last game was in 1979. And no, we did not wear leather helmets.
Mike throwing the football to the kids was the most significant scene of the movie.he is passing the torch on to the next generation of kids for them to begin there memory of high school.could not ended any better
Sometime you got give too them too make them start they high school memories...
It was also he was releasing the burden and pressure of playing football for Permian
An extremely close second I think was when Billingsley’s dad give him his state ring. His dad gave him hell throughout the whole movie, and at the end, recognized that he was just a kid and needed that support
Now he can fly !
No the most significant was preachers speech at halftime. Chills when that happened
This scene is too real if you played football and it hits you when it's all over and the lights go out
no doubt, its such an emotional ending, as a former player its tough to lose in the championship game. I graduated in1985 and losing to Vero Beach my senior year was hurtful. The hardest schedule in the state of Florida that year AAAAA
Absolutely. As someone who played D1 in baseball, high school football is the pinnacle of most kids lives. And I’m not saying that in a bad way. Certainly from a brotherhood and competitive standpoint. It’s the closest most men these days get to war. Tough to understand if you never did it.
Not just high school players but college and the pros as well
One of the best soundtracks ever. It’s both triumphant & tragic. It really captures that feeling of “don’t be sad because it’s over, be happy because it happened.”
100% agree. Gorgeous soundtrack that takes sadness, nostalgia, And hope and shakes them all up in a mason jar.
The movie's soundtrack was made by Explosions in the Sky,such a beautiful band
All good things must come to an end, this too shall pass..
Don’t be sad that it’s over, rejoice that it all happened.
Sad
Amen
God bless
Amen brother
“I’m gonna miss the heat”
“I’m gonna miss the lights”
I love that part.
Great movie great end
You don’t realize till you get older that you actually do miss the heat and the lights
@@smitty38401 yep everyday I drive past the field everyday and just remember every memory that I made.I will be 23 soon and man high school I miss it bad especially football.Every game I go to now isn’t the same as when you were on the food.
Big facts. Those who didn't play won't understand.
"Yeah...me too...stay low boys keep those feet moving."
Coming from a football town, this is so close to home. I’d give anything to go back one more day. And I never thought I would. Good times.
Its almost been 8 years.. I still miss those lights. Played for 10 years. Nothing will ever touch that feeling of playing with your brothers.
I keep on trying to get my son to understand that...
Been 30 or so years and I remember it like yesterday...working hard and then get to go out there and play
its been 2 1/2 and man i miss it so much, i got to play at a naia school called sterling college but it just isnt the same as the friday night lights
That is how you end a movie. Especially you play football in high school
They captured the classic high school football journey. I know. I experienced this life in HS. I wouldnt do it again probably do my own thing rather than dedicate all of that time to this from 5th grade to Highschool... football is all we dreamed about. Other kids were having more fun while we were being punished by a abusive coaches and running miles and getting our asses whipped and getting pummeled by the seniors players who were going to play college..Concussions, heat exhaustion, sprained ankles, etc..
Facts. Many won't understand.
High school football is such a uniquely American coming of age experience. Kids who did it and enjoyed mostly agree it was the most fulfilling part of their childhood, for better and worse. So much effort, comraderie, fun, and disappointment. Teaches you a lot for life
@@wiseup1414 amen to that
You never realize how fun it was till it’s actually over. I remember hating those hot summer practices and workouts at 6 am in the summer and after my senior season I realized how much I really miss those workouts and practices in the summer and being with the guys I grew up with. We were having the time of our lives and didn’t even know it.
“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days while you’re actually in them.” -Andy Bernard
Despite the misery and pain of demanding practices during summer, it's worth it if a team makes it to state and becomes champion.
That's got to be the most euphoric feeling on Earth. 💯
Mike Winchell went from being a quarter back to drift racing in Tokyo 😎
Lucas Black did.....not Winchell.
It's funny cause in Sling Blade Billy bob and Lucas Black played Football together. Now in FNL Billy bob is the coach and Lucas is his starting quarterback
Every guy that used to play some sport in high school ir even college feels so identified w this scene. Someday it was the last time u played a game w your friends and watching this scene take me back then........ great movie
You’re not wrong about this .Wish I could play my last soccer game in high school but due to Covid season got cut short
Gary walking away from the depth board with the change in music and the fact they won the championship the next year is an amazing scene!
I’m so thankful that final text was shown. That coach deserved it so much and it was a perfect way to end it. Powerful scene as Thornton’s character (coach) looks away and walks out of the picture.
I remember 2 years ago when my senior season came to an end after we got beat in the playoffs and we ended up finishing the season with an 11-1 record. When it was time to clean out our lockers, all of the seniors including myself were bawling our eyes out. We went through so much together and made memories together, and it’s such a sad feeling when all those fun times have to come to an end. Watching this scene makes me feel emotional and it takes me back to all those great times I had with my boys. Football is truly a brotherhood
Dude I went 0 and 12 my season but this track hurts just as much
I feel for you, leaving the locker room was hardest I ever cried. I was blessed to go to the next level but I will never forget my teammates in high school. Leaving my spikes as tradition at the home end will never leave me, this movie pulls all the cords, especially this scene.
Went 9-4 for my senior season. Me and best friend through hs cried on each other’s shoulder. It was the hardest goodbye yet
If you want to see grown men cry after a movie, this is the one to watch.
i love that despite the fact that he led the team to a state championship the very next year the author of the book chose to focus on this particular season. the ending is devastating but also beautiful and it just captures so accurately what it means to make it so far and not win the ultimate prize. many other sports movies end in triumph; this one is more interesting, more powerful, and honestly more grounded because it ends in triumphant defeat.
MAAAAAAN he won a state title the very next season IRL? A shame we were robbed of FNL2!!!
It could maybe still happen?!
Love how Mike finally cracks a smile at the end of this film, best sports movie ever
It's amazing how this legendary high school football team made Hope come to life.
Greatest sports movie of all time!👏🏻
Exactly 👍
Oh yeah, it is definitely up there.
The whole passing of the baton by throwing the youngins the football is awesome as his name plate falls in the drawer...Such a great movie.
I could care less about football but this is one of my all time favourite movies and it's 100% the soundtrack. It fits so perfectly.
And then, they saw each other the nex day because football season ends in the middle of the scholar year...
I’m sure that they were talking as teammates for the very last time. I did that with my teammates after my senior year
They all tried out for the Baseball team
That is sort of the point of the scene isn't it...life moves on. The season is barely over and the coach is flipping names of seniors into the "scrap heap". Every record I held in high school track has been broken, probably several times over by now. Very quickly, the only person who remembers that stuff is you. And...as my wife has told me, nobody wants to hear about it either (cue Glory Days by Springsteen). :)
Bob Dull your very right! It took me a while to finally accept the fact that my football career was over after my last game as a senior. But eventually I moved on and now that I have 2 sons playing in high school it really brings back some great memories. Sometimes I wish I could go back just to play one more game and definitely wish I was in good of shape as I was back then too haha.
Diego H dude trust me it’s not the same
Im going to miss my 2019 season as a senior playing football because we lost 1st round against undefeated duncanville and watching this scene is to emotional for me.Im going to miss my teammates and coaches..."keep those feet moving and be perfect “🤧😢🏈
Canton mckinley more storied than Panthers
Duncanville ain’t no joke man lol
I was a senior in high school first time I saw this. It made me sad because I knew this was inevitably coming for me. You grow up playing with your friends over the course of years then before you know it, it’s done. My coach always said to live in the moment. I totally get that now. Miss these days!
This hits so close to home. Lost the game before the championship. It has been 10 years since I played. This movie still makes me cry every single time
Feel like Mike is Thankful that it happened
But also Thankful that the pressure is over and he can move on with life now
That smile on his face after throwing that football was like ‘it’s over’
3:12 Mike passing the torch,
Such an iconic scene in one of the best sports movies made
Favorite part
Good throw, Mike. Good trow. 🥲👍🏈💖
What’s really sad is that Carter won the State Championship but a-lot of the players got arrested for armed robbery and got their title stripped from them
El Chapo 56 sucks to suck
That really happened
Oh yeah
They also had people over age and failing grades playing
@@Ascalon94 they pass idk we’re you got that from…
This movie, it’s just special
Stay low boys. Keep those feet moving.
It's a line that perfectly encapsulates so much about teamwork and determination.
I've used this line in my own life to inspire myself and others.
American football is not played in my country but I grew up watching it ( mostly movies ) but I can relate to this scene as playing your last game for your school or any team can be very emotional.
One of the most bittersweet moments in my life was exactly this. Played high school football for all 4 years, then senior year when the season was over when me and the other seniors went in to clean out our lockers, walked out to the parking lot, and we all just looked back at the stadium before we went into our cars. Some small talk, some jokes. I remember just feeling sad, an amazing chapter of your life is closed but you’re happy you experienced it.
4 years ago I graduated high school.Football allows memories to be made that you remember it allows you to grow as a person.
Life goes by so quick in a blink of a eye.I am currently 22 and man I wish I would have soaked those moments all in.The party after the game.The feeling of skipping school on a Friday morning just to meet up with the boys for lunch.I miss everything not just about football but high school.Miss seeing my girl before the game and that smile.Miss seeing the big hug she gave me after every hand win or loose. Best time of my life I would do anything to go back anything!
Truth is I can’t go back I’m just stuck with the memories and learning to live life.#Thelights
After my high school team lost my senior yea in third round of playoffs. I sat in my car and cried like a baby. I will always miss the lights
When it comes to athletics I only ran track but I will say this; to this day I remember my senior year. The friends, football games, partying and talking to the girls. The carefree lifestyle just worried about getting into a college.
College is even better if you got a party school
@@GeorgioArmoni I did I attended txst and loved it.
It’s goes so fast and it’s forgotten so easily but it is one of the best times in everyone’s life.
Where boobie develops humility and sees preacher man working a regular job and realizes the nfl won't be his dream turned into a reality.
You clean your locker out for the last time, turn in your gear, and it’s over. For most of us, that was it. Never played football again. But it isn’t like we were saying goodbye. We still had half a school year left. A lot of us still hang out to this day. We will always be Bearcats, no matter where life takes us.
watching this with teammates makes this movie hit different. we watch the movie first day of summer camp to show how quickly it's all gonne go by, and why we gotta work hard and cherish every moment cause of how fast it can all be over. Every year saying good bye to the seniors is always the hardest part and it's hard to believe that I'm gonna be a senior this year and it honestly feels like I was robbed. Not just because of how fast everything went, but also because of COVID as a Sophomore I didn't get to have a full 10 game season (only 5) and our schools were online so that was one less year of a true experience
This ending is perfect❤
Not football related but I relate to this from a band aspect. Lame I know but those were the best times of high school. We were all really great friends, then after we graduated we all kind of moved on and did our own things and now no one keeps in touch.
Beat scene of the entire movie, when you’re in school you hate it, and when it is over you finally realize what it all meant and it’s hits you that you won’t see most of the people you’ve seen everyday for so many years anymore and how important it was to be there and go through it together and it fuckin sucks
Couldn’t have said it better. It goes by in the blink of an eye too. If only there was a way to know we were living in the good ole days before they were gone
@@bocephus6012 exactly man billingsleys dad is a dickhead but that’s basically what he’s saying and I always hated school and now I’d give anything to do it all over
@@blakecrosslin92 I just had my 10 year high school reunion and it almost felt like a different world going back to my hometown. 4 years in high school doesn’t seem long, but it’s just a blip when you think about it
The last time you chill with your friends.
The final text, that he went on to win an undefeated season and championship the next year, is such an unexpected, magnificent ending. I remember watching this with a friend and he just said "wow" at the closing words. They may have lost but it is their story that lives on. Truly one of my favorite endings to a movie, ever.
I’m so thankful that final text was shown. That coach deserved it so much and it was a perfect way to end it. Powerful scene as Thornton’s character (coach) looks away and walks out of the picture.
He smiles because the burden is lifted as he passed the torch to the next generation
Never forget my last high school football game, we got the brakes beat off us by the eventual state champs. Had a rushing TD, and threw a pick on my final play of my career. I regret nothing. I never played a down of football after. The tears flowed, the memories will be there forever.
Boobie had developed a found respect and feelings for others. He became humble.
Most folks don’t understand; it’s a very sobering feeling; when you “know it’s over.” It can be Life Changing- one way or the other. And you never stop dreaming about “what could’ve been.” You never stop Dreaming.
This movie was my life. 4 years of high school varsity football 87 88 89 90. We were 45 and 7 with an undefeated season 14 and 0 in 89 with a state title. This movie still chokes me up at 51 yrs old.
You have no idea how real this scene is.
I went to a big time texas school as well and we won state and came back to the locker room that following monday after school and the entire locker room was changed, the draft chart on the wall was changed, the numbers where given to juniors taking your place, the names in the lockers where already changed, you put your heart and soul into that uniform and now folded up in a box in your closet and probably won't be seen for many years.
Same thing with college.
I played for university of Texas for all 4 years.
I onto started a handful of games from freshman to junior, then was a starter my senior year.
Then finally same thing again.
Go in to empty your locker and everything has changed.
Names off the locker, names off the charts, and now your uniform is folded up in the same box with your high school uniform.
And now you're married with kids.
One gets stuck in a computer. The other goes to Tokyo to race cars. And the last one regrets following two girls to a hostel.
this scene just shows the realities of football. these guys are deep in football country, played on one of the best HS teams and nearly won state championship and almost none of them went on to play football in college and they all ended up with regular jobs.
2022 - 2 weeks from my 25th birthday, I age and see all the younger kids at my church who now grow up playing pee-wees and midgets. One of the fathers was a part of the state championship team his senior year, and now his son is playing. Looking at how coach drops the names of all the seniors (and many before the ones in the movie) is something he’s done before. The same coach I played for coached the father of the young football player and, one day, he will coach the next generation of players. That’s really something that is mind boggling to me that no matter what year, the coaches never really age, regardless of how long they’ve been playing
Personally, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Everything about it I love ❤️
I like to be believe those kids at the end where team in 94 or 95 that went to the state final or the teams in the late 90s with identity crisis with those black helmets.
Uhhh....what?
Keidric Lamar I think they had a stroke
I love this movie! Reminds me of my last days of high school
Iconic Shot right there 1:40
off to tokyo boyss 3:28
Brandon D and being a jarhead
Brandon D this comment underrated hahahah
I love the ending... 'Stay low boys'.... keep those feet moving....
Most people, even parents, don’t really understand what it means when a senior football player’s season ends. They don’t understand the true finality of it for 95% of these kids. You can play baseball/softball in rec leagues forever. You can always play a game of pick-up basketball. You can play golf and tennis as much as you want when you get older. You can run track and enter 5k or marathons till you die. But most high school football players will never ever put on a helmet and play the same game again. You go from being totally and completely immersed in a game you love to being totally and completely shut out from it. That is incredibly difficult. Football is not a lifetime sport....but high school football IS a once in a lifetime experience.
First fall since I was in kindergarten that I haven’t been playing ball man. It was hard ..
@@zmoney671 yea man it is. You don’t realize how much fun it was till it’s over.
@@bocephus6012 that’s an aspect I think a lot of folk miss.
@@jrad410 yes it is! What I miss most about it is the feeling I’d get on Friday as soon as school let out if go home first if it was a home game sit in my room with the head phones on and listen to Eminem lose yourself on repeat lol I miss that and just being around the guys I played with like a at practice and suchZ it’s something I’ll never get to experience again. And I’m just glad I got the memories to look back on.
@@bocephus6012 definitely, this move hit me cuz my senior senior season ended in a similar fashion. My school was among the favorites to win state that season. Our first playoff game we had a lead but our chip shot FG got blocked at the end of regulation and then in overtime we were stopped 2 yards from the goaline on a 4&1. Got fortunate to see my team win a state title as a ball boy but in terms when I was playing just fell short. I still remember that loss to this day lol but the good times will always be special.
Greatest movie ending of all time.
3:11 Good throw Mike...Good throw 😂☺🏈💖🖒
I just finished my senior year of high school football. This is hitting hard rn
I know what you mean 4 years since my last game and I miss it. Great memories I’ll remember forever. You don’t realize how much fun it was until it’s gone.
Fun fact my dad was a driver for Ivory Christian's company.
Stay low boys, keep those feet movin.
I didn’t even play high school football but this scene and movie hits me like a fucking train of emotions
When the qb throw the ball to the kids I always cry
their acting like it’s the last time they’ll see each other when it’s still the first semester of school 😂😂
them lights hit different in texas. the last time to rep
Yeah of course they still see each other but they won’t ever be together in that locker room again or on the field together where you spent most of the time with them.
Idk about anyone else but if you played for a team with high expectations of you and had to be great then you know exactly how Mike felt at the end. Yeah he was gonna miss it and sad it was over but at the same time the stress is lifted he can enjoy the rest of his senior year. That’s how I felt at the end of the year I hated to see it end but I felt like I had a weight lifted off of me.
Gonna weigh in here on the opposite side of those who wish they could go back. Having played in a high stress / pressurized program in Ohio back in the 90s there was this very satisfying feeling, at least for me, when it all came to an end. Almost like a weight had been taken off me and my buddies and we were no longer tasked with "defending the town". It was someone else's turn. In fact, the following fall when I set foot on campus of my chosen large state university no one new me and no one cared who I was and it was nothing short of AWESOME. When you spend four years in a fish bowl, being a nobody suddenly becomes the greatest feeling in the world.
I know exactly what you mean and felt the same way after my senior season ended
I wonder if Stoney Case is a little more than upset that the film depicts some kid named Wilkins as Winchell's back up on Coach Gaines depth chart in this scene? Case sat behind Winchell in '88, led the Panthers as the starting QB to a state title in '89, played four years of college football for New Mexico and was eventually drafted in the NFL's third round by the Arizona Cardinals in '95!!
I've wondered the same thing. I'm surprised they missed something like that.
Dang man! Is this what it’s like after football and graduation!? I’m going to HS next year and I assume it’s the best feeling ever
Yep I graduated in 2017 and the memories you make dont hit you and you dont realize how fast it will go.One minute its two days in july the next its playoffs
Enjoy the rollercoaster
Everything ends for everyone . Enjoy it while you can.
I never felt a brotherhood for football because I never played it but I did have brotherhood in wrestling. The shitty things are what I'm gonna miss the most
I wrestled too, crazy looking back on all those memories. The weight cuts, not eating, feeling sick and tried during practice... but I kinda miss it in a weird way.
It's been 12 years for me. After losing in the playoffs locker cleanout was one of the bittersweet moments of my life that Fall....
Same here cleaning that locker and then next semester not having football as my last block of the day at school was when it all really set in for me. It was really over. It had come and gone. I wish I could just go back for one Friday night and feel the butterflies and adrenaline rush as we ran through the banner and hear the crowd one more time. You don’t realize how fun it really was till it gone
The ugly truth of something so special that comes to an end
My team wasn’t a great team we weren’t even a good team but I wish I could play one more game under the lights
When men play as a team they become brothers.
Anyone who has ever played a team game knows that the guy on the team would walk into a war with you. And you would do the same.
Everytime.
This scene hit hard because the day after my last football game my dad took me to our rival team’s playoff game and I seen a bunch of little kids playing football near the parking lot as we left and it made me think of this scene
This song really is one of my favorite explosion in the sky songs seriously I love it
If you take this scene at a deep level it’s legit one of the saddest movie endings
Having Explosions in the Sky do some of the soundtrack was a brilliant decision
Everytime I watch this a tear falls from my eye
Mike never smiles and When he smiled at that part it was the perfect ending
This captures exactly what it was like after knowing ur football life was done, I balled my eyes out knowing I’d never play again
I'm still not over this movie...probably never will be
*All good things must come to an end*
I can tell Gaines was feeling that old passes away things become New. Yet hes older here. And he understands it all
died the other day
I would keep rewinding this just to hear the song as a kid.
Man i live in the Puerto Rico but i always wished they brought Football to the high schools over here. Such an underated movie
I know its selfish of me but when it says how they went undefeated the next year i find myself being like “fuck give me that movie now”
This hits so much harder right after my last game as a senior
I know the feeling of releasing the weight and pressure of a situation.
That note at 1:17 ...
I live in monahans as of now i wish i could meet boobie
You can argue… BUT I’ll take this over Remember the Titans.
To those that played this is too real & pulls at your heart strings!
Definitely! High school football is just special and even if you play college or nfl nothing can come close to the high school ball experience. And to understand that and the feeling you get after your senior season you have had to play to understand it. Baseball, basketball and even golf you can go to the field or court and play a pickup game of those pretty much at any age or play on recreational teams but for a lot of seniors after their last football game that’s the last time they will ever wear a helmet and pads and play a game for as long as they live. You’ll never play with that group of guys you’ve played with all the way from flag or peewee tackle through middle school and high school. And not knocking down the other sports but highs school football is one of the most relatable sports about life. I’ve moved on in life to bigger things but I’ll always miss those playing days and the bond I had with all the guys and the Friday feeling on game days and getting those butterflies before the game and I can tell you this too I learned more life lessons playing football Than I ever did in the classroom
Deep down inside their the real winners, realizing and knowing that the matter of the fact is its just a game at the end of the day.
‘Be Perfect’
i love how its not a perfect spiral.
We played Permian the night this came out. Beat the crap out of em. I miss those nights.