Glory Days: 23 Great Sports Movie Underdogs

The ''Tyson'' doc -- now on DVD -- paints an emotional picture of Iron Mike's rise and fall, and calls to mind other cinematic athletes who battled adversity, from ''The Rookie'' to ''Rocky''

Mandi Bierly

and

Jeff Labrecque

Published on August 14, 2009 04:00PM EDT

1

The Rookie, Dennis Quaid — Everett Collection

2

Burt Reynolds, The Longest Yard — Everett Collection

3

Miracle, Kurt Russell | Miracle (2004) A ragtag group of college hockey players, many hailing from Boston and Minnesota, were the ultimate underdogs on the ice against the formidable

4

Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, ... — Everett Collection

5

Woody Harrelson, Kingpin (Movie - 1996) — Everett Collection

6

The Greatest Game Ever Played, Shia LaBeouf — Everett Collection

7

Teri Garr, Mickey Rooney, ... — Everett Collection

8

9

10

Victory, Sylvester Stallone — Everett Collection

11

Muhammad Ali, When We Were Kings — Howard L. Bingham

12

Rudy (1993)

There were several candidates for the requisite football movie on this list. We picked Rudy because it's the one most likely to make this a Father's Day you'll never forget -- as the one time you saw your dad cry.

Watch on Amazon, iTunes, and Netflix.

14

Ralph Macchio, The Karate Kid — Everett Collection

15

Mark Wahlberg, Invincible (Movie - 2006) — Ron Phillips

16

The Cutting Edge, D.B. Sweeney, ... | THE CUTTING EDGE (1992) Two words: Toe pick! This lovably ridiculous rom-com about a down-and-out hockey player (D.B. Sweeney) who becomes an Olympic-level figure skater — Everett Collection

17

Kevin Costner, Tin Cup — Everett Collection

18

19

RICK ''WILD THING'' VAUGHN

PLAYED BY Charlie Sheen
MOVIE Major League (1989)
POSITION Pitcher

TEAM The Cleveland Indians, here a group of broken-down misfits (including aging catcher Tom Berenger, left) recruited precisely for the likelihood that they'll drive down ticket sales, giving the owner an excuse to move the team to Florida.

STATS He's called ''Wild Thing'' because of pitches that fly at 100 mph but are liable to hit anything but the strike zone. (Those thick specs don't seem to help much.) He's also a pot-smoker and convicted carjacker.

ACCURACY Well, pot-smoking ex-cons aren't completely unknown to baseball, and Sheen, well known for his own offscreen career as a Wild Thing, gives one of his best comic performances.

MEMORABLE MOMENT The entire stadium sings along to the Troggs' ''Wild Thing'' as Vaughn pitches in a championship game.

MALE KLEENEX FACTOR 2 out of 10 hankies (10 out of 10 if you're an Indians fan)