The Longest Yard
Encyclopedia
The Longest Yard is a 1974
American
comedy
sports-drama film
about inmates at a prison who play American football
against their guards. Burt Reynolds
portrayed Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in the original, and the coach Nate Scarborough in the 2005 remake
. The 1974 original was also the basis for the 2001 movie Mean Machine (a shortened version of the title used for the original's UK release), starring Vinnie Jones
as Danny Meehan, based on the character of Paul Crewe, and featuring association football instead of American football. Green Bay Packers
legend Ray Nitschke
appeared in the 1974 version as did the country legend George Jones
.
), former star pro football quarterback
living with his wealthy girlfriend (Anitra Ford
) in Palm Beach, Florida
. After a fight with her, he gets drunk and "steals" her expensive Citroën SM
automobile. He is surprised when a fleet of police cars follow him. Briefly evading them, he exits the vehicle and sends it off a dock into the bay. He is caught and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Crewe has difficulty getting along with the guards as well as with his fellow inmates. The convicts despise him because he was dismissed from the National Football League
for point shaving
. The sadistic, power-hungry warden Rudolph Hazen (Eddie Albert
), a football
fanatic who manages a semi-pro team made up of the prison's guards (most of whom are big and fast enough to play professionally), wants Crewe to help coach the team. Responding to pressure from the guards' leader and coach, Captain Wilhelm Knauer (Ed Lauter
), Crewe refuses. He is harassed by the guards and given backbreaking work as punishment. Crewe relents and agrees to form a prisoner team to play the guards' team in an exhibition "tune-up" game. Crewe finds that most of the inmates have no football experience, and it seems extremely doubtful that they could seriously take on the guards. Adding to Crewe's problems, the black inmates refuse to play.
Crewe eventually builds trust amongst key members of the prison community. Promising them that they can inflict excessive injuries on their opponents, he manages to form a team capable of playing the guards. The team includes the most dangerous and violent prisoners. Among the most impressive are Samson (Richard Kiel
), a 7 feet (2.1 m) former professional weightlifter, and Connie Shokner (Robert Tessier
), a fearsome serial killer and martial arts expert. With the help of the clever Caretaker (James Hampton
), veteran former professional player Nate Scarborough (Michael Conrad
), "Granny" Granville (Harry Caesar), long-term prisoner Pop (John Steadman
) — who remains in prison far past his original sentence for having struck Warden Hazen when the warden was just a rookie guard — and the warden's amorous secretary (Bernadette Peters
), Crewe molds the prisoners into a smoothly working football team named the "Mean Machine".
Before the game, an arsonist named Unger (Charles Tyner) schemes to kill Crewe by setting off an incendiary device in his cell. Caretaker is killed in the blaze in Crewe's cell after he goes there to retrieve X-rays for Crewe, who is sitting in Caretaker's cell with Nate.
As the game starts, the "Mean Machine" does well, and at halftime the game is close, with the guards leading, 15-13. Cornering Crewe in the locker room, Hazen berates him for trying to win the game and tells Crewe that he has Unger in custody and that he is willing to testify that Crewe was an accessory to Caretaker's murder unless Crewe loses the game to the guards by at least 21 points. Crewe reluctantly and angrily agrees, but obtains a promise from Hazen that if he cooperates, the other prisoners will not be harmed. However, Hazen tells Captain Knauer to order his players to "inflict as much physical punishment on the prisoners as humanly possible" as soon as they are ahead by 21 points. Crewe quickly makes several deliberate mistakes putting the "Mean Machine" down by more than three touchdowns, 35-13, then takes himself out of the game. With the prisoners demoralized, the guards then take out their anger on the prisoners, causing several injuries.
At this point, a depressed Crewe asks Pop if it had been worth it — trading the opportunity to punch the warden in exchange for a life sentence he didn't deserve. Pop states that, for himself at least, it was, and Crewe goes back into the game with a renewed sense of purpose. At first, the prisoners are angry with Crewe and provide him with no protection or co-operation, but he convinces them of his change of mind, and with the help of two quick touchdown
s followed by a drop kick
field goal
, gets the "Mean Machine" back into the game, trailing by only five points, 35-30. Nate, despite his bad knee, goes into the game to score one of the touchdowns, and, after doing so, is immediately cut down at the knees by guard Bogdanski (Ray Nitschke
), crippling him. However, by this time the prisoners have rallied and their spirit cannot be broken as they have turned the tables on the guards in terms of the violence, including a clothesline from Samson that apparently breaks a guard's neck, while Crewe deliberately and repeatedly throws the ball as hard as possible at Bogdanski's genitals.
Driving downfield for the game-winning score, a running play up the middle is stuffed and Crewe calls the team's final timeout with seven seconds remaining in the game and the prisoners with the ball on the guards' one-yard line - the "longest yard" of the title. Crewe walks off the field to the sideline and his teammates begin to follow. Crewe gathers them together for a last moment of reflection and steeling of their resolve. In a long slow-motion sequence, Crewe takes the final snap, dodges several defenders in the backfield and hurdles yet others into the end zone
. Scoring the winning touchdown with no time left, the "Mean Machine" wins, 36-35.
As the prisoners and the crowd celebrate, Warden Hazen is furious. Crewe walks across the field in what appears to be an attempt to mingle with the crowd and escape. Hazen sees this and orders Knauer to shoot Crewe by yelling "Shoot him! Kill him!". A very tense few moments ensue as Knauer trains his rifle on Crewe and repeately yells, "Crewe! Crewe!" as Crewe continues to walk away. A moment before possibly being shot, Crewe bends over and picks up the game ball and begins to walk back towards Hazen. Realizing that he was ordered to shoot a man who was simply retrieving a ball, Knauer disgustedly looks at the warden and says, "Game ball". Crewe then arrives back to Hazen, hands him the game ball and tells him to "Stick this in your trophy case."
and the Los Angeles Rams. Joe Kapp
(Walking Boss) played quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings
. Ray Nitschke
(Bogdanski) was a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers
who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1978, four years after the movie was released, and Pervis Atkins
(Mawabe) played for the Los Angeles Rams, the Washington Redskins
and the Oakland Raiders
. Also appearing as prisoners is Ernie Wheelwright
, who played with the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, and Ray Ogden
, who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Sonny Sixkiller
(who played Indian) was a collegiate
star as a quarterback
for the University of Washington
Huskies
from 1970-1972. Burt Reynolds himself had played college football
for Florida State University
.
In the Adult Swim
program Sealab 2021
, the new captain Tornado Shanks schedules a football game between Sealab and the prison guards of the Marianas Trench Maximum Security Prison for Criminally Insane Robots; the warden of the prison and coach of the guards is Warden Hazen, a nod to the film.
1974 in film
The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
sports-drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about inmates at a prison who play American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
against their guards. Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
portrayed Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in the original, and the coach Nate Scarborough in the 2005 remake
The Longest Yard (2005 film)
The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Adam Sandler plays the protagonist, Paul Crewe, a disgraced former professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, who is coerced to form a team from the prison inmates to play...
. The 1974 original was also the basis for the 2001 movie Mean Machine (a shortened version of the title used for the original's UK release), starring Vinnie Jones
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is an English film actor and retired Welsh footballer.Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. As a member of the...
as Danny Meehan, based on the character of Paul Crewe, and featuring association football instead of American football. Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
legend Ray Nitschke
Ray Nitschke
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Nitschke was a professional football player who played his entire career as a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Wearing #66, he played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72....
appeared in the 1974 version as did the country legend George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
.
Plot
The protagonist is Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Burt ReynoldsBurt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
), former star pro football quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
living with his wealthy girlfriend (Anitra Ford
Anitra Ford
Anitra Ford is an American actress.Ford was born in California. She was a model on The Price Is Right from its beginning in 1972 until the last days of 1976. She was replaced by Holly Hallstrom...
) in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
. After a fight with her, he gets drunk and "steals" her expensive Citroën SM
Citroën SM
The Citroën SM is a high-performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1970 to 1975. The SM placed third in the 1971 European Car of the Year contest, trailing its stablemate Citroën GS, and won the 1972 Motor Trend Car of the Year award in the U.S. in 1972.-History:In 1961,...
automobile. He is surprised when a fleet of police cars follow him. Briefly evading them, he exits the vehicle and sends it off a dock into the bay. He is caught and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Crewe has difficulty getting along with the guards as well as with his fellow inmates. The convicts despise him because he was dismissed from the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for point shaving
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
. The sadistic, power-hungry warden Rudolph Hazen (Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
), a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
fanatic who manages a semi-pro team made up of the prison's guards (most of whom are big and fast enough to play professionally), wants Crewe to help coach the team. Responding to pressure from the guards' leader and coach, Captain Wilhelm Knauer (Ed Lauter
Ed Lauter
Edward Lauter is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and was a stand up comic before getting into acting.Lauter was born in Long Beach, Long Island, New York...
), Crewe refuses. He is harassed by the guards and given backbreaking work as punishment. Crewe relents and agrees to form a prisoner team to play the guards' team in an exhibition "tune-up" game. Crewe finds that most of the inmates have no football experience, and it seems extremely doubtful that they could seriously take on the guards. Adding to Crewe's problems, the black inmates refuse to play.
Crewe eventually builds trust amongst key members of the prison community. Promising them that they can inflict excessive injuries on their opponents, he manages to form a team capable of playing the guards. The team includes the most dangerous and violent prisoners. Among the most impressive are Samson (Richard Kiel
Richard Kiel
Richard Dawson Kiel is an American actor best known for his role as the steel-toothed Jaws in the James Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker as well as the video game Everything or Nothing, and Mr. Larson in Happy Gilmore...
), a 7 feet (2.1 m) former professional weightlifter, and Connie Shokner (Robert Tessier
Robert Tessier
Robert W. Tessier was an American actor and stuntman who was best known for playing heavy, menacing characters on film and television.-Early life:...
), a fearsome serial killer and martial arts expert. With the help of the clever Caretaker (James Hampton
James Hampton
James Hampton may refer to:* James G. Hampton , member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 1st district* James Hampton , American folk artist* James Hampton , television and film actor...
), veteran former professional player Nate Scarborough (Michael Conrad
Michael Conrad
Michael Conrad was an American television actor.-Career:Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s...
), "Granny" Granville (Harry Caesar), long-term prisoner Pop (John Steadman
John Steadman (actor)
John Steadman was an American actor.-Career:Steadman was a former radio personality who became a character actor when he retired after 30 years in radio....
) — who remains in prison far past his original sentence for having struck Warden Hazen when the warden was just a rookie guard — and the warden's amorous secretary (Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
), Crewe molds the prisoners into a smoothly working football team named the "Mean Machine".
Before the game, an arsonist named Unger (Charles Tyner) schemes to kill Crewe by setting off an incendiary device in his cell. Caretaker is killed in the blaze in Crewe's cell after he goes there to retrieve X-rays for Crewe, who is sitting in Caretaker's cell with Nate.
As the game starts, the "Mean Machine" does well, and at halftime the game is close, with the guards leading, 15-13. Cornering Crewe in the locker room, Hazen berates him for trying to win the game and tells Crewe that he has Unger in custody and that he is willing to testify that Crewe was an accessory to Caretaker's murder unless Crewe loses the game to the guards by at least 21 points. Crewe reluctantly and angrily agrees, but obtains a promise from Hazen that if he cooperates, the other prisoners will not be harmed. However, Hazen tells Captain Knauer to order his players to "inflict as much physical punishment on the prisoners as humanly possible" as soon as they are ahead by 21 points. Crewe quickly makes several deliberate mistakes putting the "Mean Machine" down by more than three touchdowns, 35-13, then takes himself out of the game. With the prisoners demoralized, the guards then take out their anger on the prisoners, causing several injuries.
At this point, a depressed Crewe asks Pop if it had been worth it — trading the opportunity to punch the warden in exchange for a life sentence he didn't deserve. Pop states that, for himself at least, it was, and Crewe goes back into the game with a renewed sense of purpose. At first, the prisoners are angry with Crewe and provide him with no protection or co-operation, but he convinces them of his change of mind, and with the help of two quick touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s followed by a drop kick
Drop kick
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground. It contrasts to a punt, wherein the player kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first....
field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
, gets the "Mean Machine" back into the game, trailing by only five points, 35-30. Nate, despite his bad knee, goes into the game to score one of the touchdowns, and, after doing so, is immediately cut down at the knees by guard Bogdanski (Ray Nitschke
Ray Nitschke
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Nitschke was a professional football player who played his entire career as a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Wearing #66, he played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72....
), crippling him. However, by this time the prisoners have rallied and their spirit cannot be broken as they have turned the tables on the guards in terms of the violence, including a clothesline from Samson that apparently breaks a guard's neck, while Crewe deliberately and repeatedly throws the ball as hard as possible at Bogdanski's genitals.
Driving downfield for the game-winning score, a running play up the middle is stuffed and Crewe calls the team's final timeout with seven seconds remaining in the game and the prisoners with the ball on the guards' one-yard line - the "longest yard" of the title. Crewe walks off the field to the sideline and his teammates begin to follow. Crewe gathers them together for a last moment of reflection and steeling of their resolve. In a long slow-motion sequence, Crewe takes the final snap, dodges several defenders in the backfield and hurdles yet others into the end zone
End zone
In gridiron-based codes of football, the end zone refers to the scoring area on the field. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field...
. Scoring the winning touchdown with no time left, the "Mean Machine" wins, 36-35.
As the prisoners and the crowd celebrate, Warden Hazen is furious. Crewe walks across the field in what appears to be an attempt to mingle with the crowd and escape. Hazen sees this and orders Knauer to shoot Crewe by yelling "Shoot him! Kill him!". A very tense few moments ensue as Knauer trains his rifle on Crewe and repeately yells, "Crewe! Crewe!" as Crewe continues to walk away. A moment before possibly being shot, Crewe bends over and picks up the game ball and begins to walk back towards Hazen. Realizing that he was ordered to shoot a man who was simply retrieving a ball, Knauer disgustedly looks at the warden and says, "Game ball". Crewe then arrives back to Hazen, hands him the game ball and tells him to "Stick this in your trophy case."
Background
A number of the actors had previously played professional football. Mike Henry (Rasmussen) played for the Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
and the Los Angeles Rams. Joe Kapp
Joe Kapp
Joseph Robert Kapp is a former professional American and Canadian football quarterback. He is also a former college football head coach of the University of California, and a former general manager of the CFL's BC Lions. Kapp played primarily with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the CFL's BC Lions...
(Walking Boss) played quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
. Ray Nitschke
Ray Nitschke
Raymond Ernest "Ray" Nitschke was a professional football player who played his entire career as a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Wearing #66, he played fifteen seasons, from 1958-72....
(Bogdanski) was a middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1978, four years after the movie was released, and Pervis Atkins
Pervis Atkins
Pervis R. Atkins, Jr. is a former American football player. He played college football at New Mexico State University, where he was a halfback, flanker, and placekicker. In 1959 he became the first of four straight New Mexico State University players to lead the nation in rushing yardage with...
(Mawabe) played for the Los Angeles Rams, the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
and the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Also appearing as prisoners is Ernie Wheelwright
Ernie Wheelwright
Ernest Lamour Wheelwright is an American football wide receiver who is currently a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Minnesota.-External links:**...
, who played with the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints, and Ray Ogden
Ray Ogden
Raymond Douglas Ogden is a former professional American football wide receiver. He played seven seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals , the New Orleans Saints , the Atlanta Falcons , and the Chicago Bears in the National Football League.-References:...
, who played with the St. Louis Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears. Sonny Sixkiller
Sonny Sixkiller
Alex L. "Sonny" Sixkiller is a former American football player and current sports commentator.-Early years:Born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and a member of the Cherokee Nation, Sixkiller's family moved to Ashland in southern Oregon when he was a year old, where his father worked in a lumber mill.He...
(who played Indian) was a collegiate
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
star as a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
Huskies
Washington Huskies football
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference championships, seven Rose Bowl titles, and three national championships. Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by...
from 1970-1972. Burt Reynolds himself had played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
.
Awards
The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) in 1975.Popular culture
There is a restaurant and bar in the City of Toronto that is named after the film.In the Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
program Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...
, the new captain Tornado Shanks schedules a football game between Sealab and the prison guards of the Marianas Trench Maximum Security Prison for Criminally Insane Robots; the warden of the prison and coach of the guards is Warden Hazen, a nod to the film.