An Ode to Jimmy McGinty and "The Replacements"

In memory of the great Gene Hackman, whose performance in a silly football movie from 2000 continues to inspire me to this day

Gene Hackman won two Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards throughout his illustrious acting career. Recently, Hackman was found dead along with his wife at the age of 95. A fixture in the acting world, Hackman’s career spanned five decades, most notable for his roles in “The French Connection”, Unforgiven”, and “Hoosiers”. And yet, I will always remember him the most for his role in a sports comedy that was released 25 years ago: “The Replacements”.

In the movie, Hackman plays Jimmy McGinty, an old football coach that is brought in to coach replacement players for the last four games of a season while salaried players are on strike. The movie is loosely based on the 1987 Washington team that saw the team leverage replacement players en route to winning a Super Bowl.

The movie is incredibly predictable, with many cliches that are present in all sports movies. But at its core, it shows the melting pot of football, the connective fabric of a team, and the importance of passion for a craft. All of that is tied together by Hackman, who does a masterful job of holding all these pieces together to create a movie that is filled with emotion and fun. It is a reminder of the core ethos of why people love football so much.

A Collection of Characters

The Replacements is built on the premise that Jimmy McGinty has been out of football but has kept tabs on a few players that have interested him. When he gets the opportunity to coach again, he cashes in on this time spent and is ready to assemble a roster.

Clifford Franklin, a stock boy at a minimart that possesses incredible speed but has unreliable hands is brought in to play wide receiver. The brothers Jamal and Andre Jackson were professional offensive linemen before a trade split them up and derailed both of their football careers. Danny Bateman is a former college walk-on at Michigan State who went on to serve in multiple tours of duty in the military and join the police SWAT team anchoring the defense at the linebacker position. And of course, Shane Falco is the quarterback who was amazing in college, but a bad bowl game performance ended his dreams of being a pro.

Up and down the roster there are representations of every sort of player that we have seen come through the NFL in the last 30 years. There are men of God, convicted felons, and even an international player. There is beauty in the fact that McGinty assembles this hodgepodge group and can eventually formulate a team that has chemistry and togetherness driven by their collective dream of having their football moment.

Different worlds collide throughout that touch on racial differences and class structures. This was no more evident than the interactions between Danny Bateman and Earl Wilkerson. Bateman is a cop while Wilkerson is a former star cornerback that was imprisoned for assaulting a police officer. In any other setting in society, these two men would be at odds. And yet we see them quietly enjoying a meal together (before a hilariously awkward interruption by Clifford Franklin) and later becoming great teammates. It’s a small illustration of the connective power that sports can have for people of all backgrounds and paths.

Throughout the film, McGinty has a stern yet understanding approach for these players. One of the players that reflects this nature is tight end Brian Murphy. Murphy had the skills to be a first-round pick coming out of college, only to be overlooked because he was deaf. A roadblock that other coaches, including McGinty’s offensive coordinator, may look at as insurmountable. 

McGinty shows compassion and suggests that his coach learns how to sign to communicate with the talented player. This also rubs off on Falco, who also adapts to communicating with Murphy, forming an instant bond with the tight end. This shows compassion and a willingness to embrace diversity, something that is far too uncommon today. 

With the roster in place, the team goes through an adjustment period to get acclimated but in short order, they find success. Throughout the games that follow, each player gets a moment that can be characterized as their big-time moment, a satisfaction that they got their small slice of notoriety on the gridiron.

A Moment of Glory

When the replacement players take the field for the first time, they have already fulfilled their dreams. They could officially say that they were professional football players. That by itself is a tremendous achievement, but there are also individual triumphs that illustrate the payoff of hard work and the right opportunity.

Clifford Franklin, derided throughout for being a fast runner that is incapable of catching the ball, has critical moments (some with the assistance of Stickum, a banned substance in the NFL) where he makes big catches and proves to be a reliable target for Flaco. A character that started the movie as incredibly unreliable and unserious, transforms into something of a route technician in the climax of the film, a true indication of growth on and off the field.

Walter Cochran, the running back of the team, is an ordained minister whose football dream ended with a knee injury. His stated goal is to score one touchdown before he hangs up his cleats for good. In the final game he gets his moment, but it comes at a terrible price. He is upended as he crosses the goal line, breaking his knee yet again. His dream is fulfilled, and he accepts the cost, because the moment was all that mattered.

Others have their moments, such as Wilkerson scoring a touchdown and executing a big running play behind the blocking of Danny Bateman. But there are no moments more redeeming than that of Shane Falco. Falco’s entire reputation was that he crumbled when the lights got too bright. In Falco we see a fear of failure, a desire to succeed so much that it becomes a detriment more than an asset. He expounds on this fear in his quicksand speech, equating a sense of urgency to win a game when losing to falling into a pit of quicksand. That no matter how hard you try to climb out you are engulfed and cannot move.

Falco’s fear is a common one, and as a result it is incredibly relatable. His fear of failure up until this point has derailed him and followed him his entire life. We see this fear manifest in the first game when the game is on the line. Falco changes the play to one that doesn’t require him to be the decision maker, putting the ball into Cochran’s hands. McGinty calls him out on this and says, “winners always want the ball when the game is on the line”.

By the end of the movie, Falco is decisive and wants the ball in his hands. He is able to accept that failure will come regardless of him trying to escape its grasp. In this moment he displays tremendous clarity to accept the consequences of what may happen and to trust his process. It’s a lesson that applies on the football field but also in life. We see this in Falco’s relationship with Annabelle Farrell, the head cheerleader of the team. When it came time to move past the flirtation and have a real moment with her, he shriveled by not showing up to their planned date. But by the end he was able to grow past that hesitation, be present and take accountability.

As these moments occurred, the team won their games. And this endeared them to fans, as was evidenced by scenes at the bar on 8th Street, which is owned by Farrell. There was a joyous nature to the replacement players that unlocked what we all love about sports when the commercialization and money of it all is stripped away, and that is perhaps the greatest takeaway from the film.

Why We Love the Game

There is a sentiment in sports that often applies to life: winning cures all ailments. We see this represented in the beginning of “The Replacements” all the way through the end. When the team is first assembled and loses its first game, fans are irate and skeptical of the mere notion of cheering for “scab” football players. By the end, the team wins games, and they have the full buy-in of the fan base.

This mirrors the fan experience in real life in a timeless way. Think about how we view our favorite teams from week to week. A player has a bad game, and they become the villain, and deserves to be traded. But when they lead the team to a victory, then they are celebrated. This happens in every fan base of every team. It is an irrational love affair that we as fans have with our teams. They are more than just entertainment, they are vessels of life lessons and venues of experiences that bridge generational gaps. It is only natural that we would be irrational about them.

When Shane Falco becomes a cult hero in Washington after a few games, it is incredibly understandable. Jeremy Lin had two great weeks for the New York Knicks and is still revered by fans of the team. When Leicester City won the Premier League surprisingly in 2016 it gave fans something to talk about for decades and generations to come. It doesn’t take much to create folklore about a team or a player. The replacement players in the movie have all the makings of cult heroes in a sports town.

These were all average people for the most part, men who were living life accepting that their athletic dreams had passed them by. But then through fortuitous circumstances, they got another chance. This is the dream of any sports fan that grew up playing in parks, on school teams, or on travel teams. They were living the dream that so many of us have had, so they become incredibly easy to root for.

In this movie there are lessons everywhere. We are taught to stay resilient, that teamwork can accomplish some amazing things, and the importance of relationships. Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Jimmy McGinty is the glue of these lessons. He is the guiding light for so many of these storylines, especially the renaissance of Falco. It shows us that even in the darkest of times we need the help of someone that believes in us.

That is the reason that “The Replacements” will always have a special place in my heart. Yes, it is a cliché filled sports comedy, but underneath that marketable exterior is a movie that is about a lifetime love of sports, overcoming life’s many hurdles, and relying on the relationships we build to overcome it all. The movie is nothing without the steady hand of Gene Hackman, a tremendous craftsman in the acting profession, and a man whose genius will sorely be missed.