The Most Devastatingly Sad Sports Movies To Ever Grace The Silver Screen

The TV movie that broke the hearts of every dad in America in the 1970s - the story of the friendship between Brian Piccolo of the Chicago Bears (James Caan) and Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) laid the groundwork for bromance movies, only for Piccolo to perish prematurely from complications of cancer. The template created by Brian's Song soon became the standard for sad sports movies.

This Clint Eastwood-directed drama follows female boxer Mary Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) as she attempts to rise through the ranks of amateur boxing with the help of her curmudgeonly manager Frankie Dunn (Eastwood). 

Maggie's determination that drives most of the movie comes to a grinding halt when she is severely injured in a match and becomes a quadriplegic. As a final act, she begs Frankie to help her take her life, as she doesn't wish to live paralyzed and dependent on a ventilator. He does so out of kindness and compassion, calling her mo chuisle ("my darling" in Irish Gaelic) one final time. 

The Pride of the Yankees was less a proper biopic and more of a tribute to the life of Lou Gehrig, a much-loved figure in the world of sports cut down in his prime by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - still incurable to this day. Starring Gary Cooper, the film depicts Gehrig's rise to fame in an almost angelic light, including paying for his mother's hospital bills and promising sick children homers. 

Suddenly, however, his health begins to decline, and the national hero bravely faces the inevitable. Though the story comes off as sentimental and hokey by today's standards, Cooper's strong performance stands the test of time.

The Matthew McConaughey heart-wrencher follows the true story of the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of 37 players from the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, plus five coaches, the athletic director, 25 boosters, and the crew of the plane. 

The tragedy destroyed the town and the university, who find themselves having to rebuild from the devastation and start anew. The tale of rebuilding the team and the community's morale can be a hard watch, but their fight back is a satisfying - albeit weepy - one.  

Very loosely based on the true story of coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), the first Black football coach of TC Williams High School in Virginia, Remember the Titans pulls at the heartstrings of its audience though its tale of endurance and bravery. Boone had to overcome years of racial tensions in an effort to get the team to work together - a monumental effort for one man. 

The true heartbreak hits just when the team begins to find their groove, when suddenly their linebacker Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) is paralyzed in an accident just before the big game. Although the team rallies in his honor to win the state championship, there's no happy ending for Gerry, who passes a decade later.   

A remake of a 1931 tearjerker, The Champ is a family drama set within the boxing ring starring Jon Voight as Billy Flynn, a former fighter whose drinking and gambling threatens to destroy what's left of his family. When his ex-wife Annie Phillips (Faye Dunaway) attempts to reclaim her son TJ (Ricky Schroder), Billy attempts to clean up his act and get back into the ring, despite age and health concerns. 

Unfortunately, Billy's opponent turns out to be too much for the old fighter, and Billy succumbs to his injuries just as he wins his fight. The scene in which his young son attempts to "wake" his father has shattered many a young soul over the years.