Goofs
Factual errors: As with most "based on a true story" stories, there are several discrepancies between the real events and the way they are portrayed in the film.Anachronisms: The players High-Five in the gym. In 1971, they would have given "skin": palm up to palm down.
Continuity: Facemasks on helmets change from shot to shot in games.
Revealing mistakes: Player uniforms throughout the film look unrealistically grass stained, as if they've been intentionally distressed.
Revealing mistakes: All "road" games for T.C. Williams obviously filmed on the same field, including the State Championship game.
Continuity: During a game sequence, an opposing running back runs a sweep. He fumbles the ball which is picked up by a Titan player, who runs it in for a touchdown, the wrong way.
Anachronisms: High school football rules in 1971 did not allow a recovered fumble to be advance by the recovering team. This happens several times in crucial situations.
Anachronisms: In the early 1970s, Igloo coolers were galvanized steel, not plastic as shown.
Anachronisms: The helmets are of a late 1990s design, which are much more strongly designed and made than those actually worn in the early 1970s when this movie takes place.
Factual errors: After football camp the players return. The subtitle states the first day of school as September 4th (1971). This was a Saturday and would not be the first day of school.
Revealing mistakes: A helmet can be seen on the driver of the car when it spins after being hit.
Crew or equipment visible: Just before Gary is hit by the truck when the lights of the truck are shown, you can see the shadow of the camera on the street.
Continuity: When Rev is injured, the player on the opposing team is said to be a Nose Guard. However when Rev is tackled the player is obviously coming from the end. If the player had been playing Nose Guard as previously stated he would have come from up the middle. This same mistake is repeated when Sunshine takes over as Quarterback.
Continuity: In stadium, the people are dressed for cold weather. Afterwards in the downtown scene they are dressed like it is a warm summer night.
Continuity: When Sunshine first comes to the team during training and throws the ball at Gary, it appears to be dropping to the right of his back and missing. But hits him in the middle of his back in the final close range shot.
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While at Gettysburg, Coach Boone says 50,000 men died there during the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. There were approximately 50,000 casualties (killed/wounded/missing), but the actual number killed was much lower.
Crew or equipment visible: When Coach Boone goes to Coach Yost's house to apologize for accepting the head coaching job, the cameraman is reflected in the window just before Boone knocks on the door.
Continuity: When the players are at camp eating lunch after the first practice, Blue starts humming and Rev says, "Lord, we come before you today and ask you to soften big Julius Campbell's heart." "Lord, we come before you today" is clearly repeated when the camera switches to Ray talking with Gerry.
Anachronisms: In the championship game, the team opposing the Titans starts using the shotgun offense. The Titans' assistant coach recognizes the play immediately and clearly knows it's a pro-type offense, saying, "Who do these guys think they are, the New York Jets?" However, in 1971, the shotgun formation had not been used in the NFL for over a decade (and then only by one team, the San Francisco 49ers) and was not a part of the pro playbook until Tom Landry reintroduced it with the Dallas Cowboys in 1975. If the coach had recognized the formation at all he would never have associated it with the Jets or the pros.
Anachronisms: A "CSX" railroad car appears in the background. This movie takes place in 1971 and the CSX railroad corporation was not formed until the mid 1980s.
Anachronisms: In a locker room shot (while "Long Cool Woman" is playing in the background), one of the players is shown using a motion picture camera. His camera is much smaller than anything that existed in 1971.
Revealing mistakes: During the locker room scene, a tattoo on the right shoulder of the actor who plays Petey can be seen, though it has been covered with make-up to make it less visible.
Revealing mistakes: When Coach Boone visits Coach Yost early in the movie, Yost and his assistant are wearing shirts with the name of a different high school than the one featured in the movie.