An Ode to Jimmy McGinty and “The Replacements”

In memory of the great Gene Hackman, whose performance in a silly 2000 football movie continues to inspire me to this day

Gene Hackman won two Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards throughout his illustrious acting career. Recently, Hackman was found dead along with his wife at the age of 95. A fixture in the acting world, Hackman’s career spanned five decades, most notable for his roles in “The French Connection”, Unforgiven”, and “Hoosiers”. And yet, I will always remember him the most for his role in a sports comedy that was released 25 years ago: “The Replacements”.

In the movie, Hackman plays Jimmy McGinty, an old football coach that is brought in to coach replacement players for the last four games of a season while salaried players are on strike. The movie is loosely based on the 1987 Washington team that saw the team leverage replacement players en route to winning a Super Bowl.

The movie is incredibly predictable, with many cliches that are present in all sports movies. But at its core, it shows the melting pot of football, the connective fabric of a team, and the importance of passion for a craft. All of that is tied together by Hackman, who does a masterful job of holding all these pieces together to create a movie that is filled with emotion and fun. It is a reminder of the core ethos of why…