NFL Network’s ‘A Football Life’ to Feature 2006 Rose Bowl [WATCH]
“We’ll be baaaaack!” yells a smiling Vince Young, after decimating Michigan with four rushing touchdowns in the 2005 Rose Bowl. Across the country, Matt Leinart is leading the USC Trojans to their second straight national championship at the Orange Bowl and deciding whether to go pro or continue his idyllic life in sunny Southern California.
This scene, from early in an upcoming episode of the Emmy-nominated football documentary show A Football Life, frames a story that Matthew McConaughey considers more theatrical than any of his films.
“Look, I make movies. We put narratives together for dramatic purposes,” he drawls. “I’ve never seen a film that rivaled actual dramatic effects that went on in that game.”
A Football Life, currently wrapping up its fourth season on NFL Network, usually profiles players, concepts, and lore integral to American professional football. Barry Sanders, the 1993 Houston Oilers, and the forward pass have been explored via the vast archives of NFL Films, a sweeping orchestral score, and the reassuring voice of narrator Josh Charles. For the first time on Jan. 2, 2015 at 8 p.m. CST, the show will focus primarily on college football. Naturally, the inaugural college football episode is a documentary about the 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC, the greatest college football game this century.
Featuring main interviewees and superfans of Texas and USC, McConaughey and Snoop Dogg, respectively, the show also reunites Young and Leinart, who—spoiler alert—both flamed out in the NFL. As much as it’s a story of the most recent Game of the Century and all its dramatic turns, the episode is also a meditation on life after fame, specifically what happens when two superstars fall from grace. It’s a can’t-miss episode for any fan of college football.
