Playmakers is a must see for anyone that wants a peek into the National Football League (NFL).

You see a few years ago ESPN put this show together and it ran for one season. After that season it has been rumored that the NFL told ESPN to pull the show or they would lose their ability to broadcast NFL games or show highlight footage. This would have been devastating to ESPN as their NFL coverage generates viewers which generates ESPN’s high priced commercial slots.

ESPN now presents Monday Night Football (MNF) and makes tens of millions of dollars a season for the privilege to air these games. MNF is normally the highest rated programming during the week in the USA.

As you can imagine ESPN immediately canceled the show. Again it is rumored that the NFL issued the threat of pulling the ESPN’s coverage and I have no real evidence except for the show itself.

Go rent Playmakers. Sit down and watch it. It is a damn good show with great story telling, strong character development and an outstanding cast. I know what you are thinking, “If it is so good, why have it pulled?”

It was too real. If you don’t believe me then ask Deion Sanders who said the show was quite accurate to what happens in the NFL.

Take a look at the rookie running back who has brought his friends from the hood with him for the ride. Then see the legal mess he gets into and you would swear you had heard this news story or something like it.

Take a look at the aging players who are trying to keep a competitive edge. They cycle on and off of performance enhancing substances just to have another season in the lime light.

Watch the coaching and front office discussions that no one in the NFL wants you to see.

See what happens when an accident at home gets blown into a full media frenzy turning a mans life inside out.

Watch what happens when an football player has to deal with being a homosexual in a locker room full of homophobes.

Simply put, I have never seen any movie truly capture what it means to be in the NFL. Any Given Sunday came close but Playmakers shows you the only way to truly capture the greatest game is to do it in an episodic format.

The NFL is far to intricate to be satisfactorily detailed in 2 hours. Oh you can scratch the surface but it is below the surface that the real stories take place.

Do not walk away from this thinking I am trying to bash the NFL or that I don’t like football. It is quite the opposite. I spent the last several months pining away for the regular season to start. I am in 3 fantasy football leagues. I watch as many games as I can every Sunday and Monday. I spend at least 2 hours (if not double that during the regular season) a day reading NFL related news. I think the NFL Network is one of the great channels on cable. I ant to have enough money to have a room with enough TVs to make it worth while to get the Sunday ticket package so I can watch all the games each week. I watch the draft, the whole draft. I am just as obsessed with the NFL as I am with film.

So why is it I loved this show so much?

Because it was real and it gives you a greater appreciation of what what these men do in their lives so they can walk out on that field and play the greatest game known to man. You see what lengths men go to in order to be called Playmakers.