Sports can show the greatest and most inspirational feats in humanity that bring out the hero in us all. Sports shows and movies can perhaps do this even better.
This edition of Don’t Sleep on This — a semi-regular series in which the Free Press Arts & Life department will offer up (spoiler-free) recommendations of new TV shows and movies you should be watching — features fictional and non-fictional sports content that will leave you feeling as if you could run through a brick wall.
Quarterback
Netflix
No. of Seasons: 1
Netflix Quarterback follows three NFL stars at different stages of their career.
Netflix’s football-focused Quarterback series is no Pulp Fiction, but it similarly attempts to weave three different stories together, with contrasting characters that are all intertwined. The series kicks off with legendary hall-of-fame NFL quarterback Peyton Manning detailing why the quarterback position is the most challenging and valuable in sports, a fact that explains why this docuseries is so compelling.
The series focuses on three quarterbacks at different points in their careers, all of whom have had fascinating journeys to get there. Quarterback’s balanced approach will appeal both to sports fans and those who haven’t watched a single game, as its portrayal of individuals performing at the highest level also reveals their humanity as they attempt to find a work-life balance.
The first and most intriguing subject is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the reigning two-time Super Bowl MVP and current face of the league. The player, who has seen success since the early days of his career, carries most of the series as we watch the season-long journey to his second Super Bowl.
He shines as the star with his jovial personality and determined nature, and his playmaking is eye-popping even if you’re not familiar with the game. Watching him win a Super Bowl while playing with a high ankle sprain will leave you feeling similarly invincible.
The second subject is Kirk Cousins, a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings who worked his way up from being a backup to being a starter and four-time Pro Bowl selection. Cousins, a hard-working, humble goofball, is perhaps the best example of the emotional roller-coaster that football sets its players on.
We get an inside look into his amazing regular season, from the biggest comeback ever in an NFL game to a crushing playoff loss as he fails to live up to expectations; he handles it all with grace and composure.
The final subject is Marcus Mariota, the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, who had more hype than Cousins or Mahomes coming into the NFL after winning the Heisman Trophy, college football’s highest honour. Mariota has underperformed thus far, losing his starting job and nearly being out of the league. He found his way back to starting this season before being benched, which the series approaches with a brutal honesty.
The interviews add great context to what these players and their families go through and the gruelling toll that being an NFL quarterback takes.
Swagger
Apple TV+
No. of Seasons: 2
Apple TV+ Swagger avoids the common tropes of sports shows.
Swagger, executive produced by and loosely based on the life of two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant, is not only the best sports show streaming right now, but it may be one of the most underrated shows in general.
Swagger centres on a high school basketball team composed of players who fall outside general sports clichés; it’s buoyed by the acting of Isaiah Hill as Jace Carson, the best high school basketball player in the world, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube’s son) as coach Ike (Icon) Edward.
The show features an infectious soundtrack of both modern and nostalgic hip-hop as well as some of the best-directed basketball scenes put to film, invoking intense emotions. Social media is cleverly used as a main character throughout to illustrate the pressures and tools available to today’s youth.
The series maintains the quality of all-time-great high school shows such as One Tree Hill and The OC, while bringing issues to light that feel as though their implications are bigger than the characters and have real-world implications.
In the first season Jace, his friends and their coach encounter racism from police just for being Black men in a restaurant; they deal with the fallout of COVID-19 (which affected the show’s filming); and the very serious issue of child sexual abuse.
In Season 1, the 14-year-old boys protected Jace’s childhood friend, and love interest, Crystal from her abuser by assaulting the adult coach and telling him to leave her alone. This worked and the coach was convicted, but as 18-year-old men in their final year of high school this incident comes to light as they must deal with the fallout and consequences while Jace is on the verge of making the NBA. Everyone must come to terms with their own morality and how the justice system prevails or fails to protect us, including an episode where the team visits a prison; it warrants Emmy consideration.
Swagger is midway through its second season; new episodes arrive on Apple TV+ on Fridays.
Stephen Curry: Underrated
Apple TV+
Runtime: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Apple TV+ Steph Curry was rejected by most NBA-track colleges, who didn’t see his potential.
Stephen Curry: Underrated is an extremely accurate moniker for this documentary, though you might not expect it from a film focusing on a four-time champion who changed the NBA.
Whereas many sports docs celebrate the incredible achievements of their subject while showing the hardships they overcame, this one really leans into Curry’s unlikely road to fame.
The documentary begins by showing Curry breaking the NBA’s all-time three-point record, juxtaposed with footage of former record holder Reggie Miller reading a draft report from 2009, the year Curry was drafted, about how Curry could never lead a team. We are then taken back to Curry’s formative years, when none of the big colleges that usually recruit future NBA players wanted him, considering him as too undersized and scrawny to play in the league.
Curry realized that he couldn’t do all the things an NBA player could do, but he could shoot, so he honed in on that. Those at Davidson, a small liberal arts college with fewer than 2,000 students and very few televised games, took notice of Curry’s potential for greatness.
The doc illustrates Curry’s unconventional path, as it covers mostly his time at Davidson and the legendary run the team had in the NCAA March Madness tournament in 2008.
Rather than interviews with his superstar NBA peers, the film features interviews with his college coach and teammates, college reporters, and his parents, all of which emphasize the focus on his underrated years. Even though we know the outcome, we are rooting for Davidson’s magical run as underdogs who end up securing the team’s first tournament win in over 40 years, after having been overlooked all year.
Director Peter Nicks’s vision and pacing serve the documentary well on numerous occasions, as when he lets moments play out while comparing Curry’s hurdles at Davidson with his NBA struggles, before winning his fourth championship with San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors in 2022.
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