Phil Elliott (Nick Nolte) is a worn out wide receiver for the North Dallas Bulls professional football team in the 70s. It's crazy parties, drugs, sex, and alcohol. Seth Maxwell (Mac Davis) is the popular quarterback. Jo Bob Priddy (Bo Svenson) is a dumb wild lineman. Phil meets Charlotte Caulder (Dayle Haddon) at a party but she's not happy to be there. He rescues her from Jo Bob with a lot of help from Seth. Coach Strother thinks Phil isn't serious enough. Team executive Emmett Hunter (Dabney Coleman) is dating Joanne Rodney but Phil is actually sleeping with her. Johnson (Charles Durning) is the assistant coach. Phil is constantly threatened with the CFL. His body is all worn out and the trainer gives him 'B12' shots. Somebody mysterious is after him.Based on the novel by Cowboys wide receiver Peter Gent, this has the feel of authenticity. It's not quite a spoof with few outright laughs. Nick Nolte is terrific as the weary player. The story is a bit scattered. It could be even darker and more intense.

I recall the book that this film is based on made quite a splash when it came out; I guess it was inevitable that it get a film treatment. I never read the book and only saw the film for the first time today, and man, it was a disappointment. Greatest football film ever? - I don't think so. There's nothing inspiring about the players, coaches or organization in the picture that says to me that football is or was a noble profession. Seriously, I've never, ever seen a more out of shape cast put to celluloid that was meant to represent a professional sports team. The drugs, booze, sex and general mayhem portrayed on screen may be the case, but the entire picture seemed more of a caricature than reality. And watching it today, very much anachronistic. Busted for a joint! - that's the least of a ball player's worries today, just ask a Cincinnati Bengal. I just couldn't get over how seamy the whole thing was. For a football picture I actually liked, I'd have to go with "The Longest Yard" - that would be the Burt Reynolds original, not the Adam Sandler one.

"Better football through chemistry" is a line of Nick Nolte's as he's being shot up with painkillers before the big game. When I first saw this in 1979, I found it amusing; now I find it prophetic. Sure it has it's sexist moments, but those are mere reflections of the times. The theme is that of abuse. These are modern gladiators, and we watch this sport as did the Romans. It's our bread and games. The new findings that NFL teams sent injured players into games full of drugs gives this film new meaning. Head injuries now show concussions that were untreated, and old players now have addictions and crippling arthritis. This was an amusing movie in it's day, but it's not as funny anymore.

A professional football team makes a season-ending push for the playoffs. The film really tries to belabor the point that playing professional football is hard on the body, with Nolte wincing in pain with almost every movement he makes. Similarly, the ills of professional sports are exaggerated to stress the greed and ruthlessness of this cutthroat business. Nolte is fine as the aging wide receiver while Davis is surprisingly effective in his film debut as the quarterback. Also good is Spradlin as the stern coach who seems to be modeled after Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry. The cast features the late Oakland Raider Matuszak as a fierce lineman.