I still remember sitting down with my family to watch "Brian's Song", the made for TV movie in 1971. I was 13 years of age, and my 3 brothers and I thought we were going to watch a sports movie. It's funny thinking back to that night, as all the brothers fought back tears during the final scenes. We jumped up at the end, and tried to act macho and pretended we all had colds and runny noses. Watching the movie today, it doesn't have quite the same impact, but it remains touching and dramatic. James Caan and Billy D Williams work well together. They act without any arrogance and tough-guy attributes they picked up later in their careers. The movie score wraps around the scenes to add to the poignancy without disrupting the mood. Shelly Fabarase is the perfect wife. It is a touching tribute to a ordinary football player, Brian Piccolo, who lead a extraordinary life. A updated version of "Brian's Song" attempted to capture the magic of 1971's version, but as is usually the case, the attempt falls short of the goal. The original does the best at mourning Piccolo's death, but most importantly, celebrating his life. It is a touchdown!

Yes, this is an almost 50 year old made for TV film (hard to imagine but it is) and for it's time during the aftermath of much civil unrest in the USA, the film served it's purpose reflecting the will of two great athletes, Gayle Sayers and Brian Piccolo who although in real life, competed hard against each other on the gridiron, were able to put aside their differences and stay strong for one another as the lesser known Chicago Bears football running back Brian Piccolo was battling testicular cancer.

Not all films end up in a warm and fuzzy romantic embrace, or in this case a great sports achievement such as carrying the SuperBowl trophy over their shoulders. No, in this film, we witness how two real life tough as nails running backs for the NFL Chicago Bears accept one mans fate battling testicular cancer and work their butts off trying to defeat this evil of diseases, cancer.

The producers could not have selected two better actors such as James Caan (Brian Piccolo), Billy Dee Williams (Hall of Famer Gayle Sayers). Their chemistry on screen was undeniable, and the film has warmed many a man's (and women's) hearts through their spirit of giving and loving one another and the race card not being used.

It is a film I watched with my own sons, and soon enough I will have my grandchildren watching it as well as I own both DVD film versions (1971 & 2001 remake starring Mekhi Phifer, Sean Maher).

For a made for TV film it was one of the most anticipated true life stories brought to the television audience and remains one of the very best sports film ever. I give it a perfect 10 out of 10 IMDB rating.