The world has always loved an underdog. Seeing the triumphant overcoming of the odds and defeating someone deemed invincible is what makes sports so truly polarizing. It gives people hope throughout the rest of their life. As America’s most popular sport, football has all sorts of incredible underdog stories.
From Stanford beating USC as over 40 point underdogs to the New England patriots making it to (and winning) a Super Bowl with a relatively no-named quarterback stepping in for their hall of fame, injured QB early on in the year (the unheralded QB being Tom Brady), everyone loves the underdog. There are many of these stories from high school as well. Some of the best high school football underdog stories originate and surround an entire team, while others are around a single player. While there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of these stories from around the country, these three are truly inspirational and well known.
Michael Oher
Some people might not know his name, but they most likely know the movie title “The Blind Side.” Naturally, the movie took some artistic licensing when writing the movie in order to up the ante in the drama department, but the basis of the story is true. Michael’s father was a crack addict and so Michael was homeless until taken in by a family where he received the chance at football he never would have received. He has since gone on to play over a decade in the NFL.
T.C. Williams High School and Herman Boone
The movie Remember the Titans is based on this story, but the movie did alter the information a bit. This is a triumph against the times more than anything else. The school district decided to desegregate and bring both black and white communities together into the same school. Football proved to be the ground that brought families together. Herman Boone, who had a previous high school record of 99 and 8 was brought in as the head coach and created a unified team against all odds. Even in the 1970s, Boone received coach of the year six times, which in itself is a considerable underdog achievement.
Manassas Tigers in Memphis
Massas, an inner-city high school in Memphis, for years struggled with grades and student involvement. Head Coach Bill Courtney helped change the culture one child at a time and transformed the team from losers to winners.