Friday Night Right?
October 09, 2006
The NBC drama series Friday Night Lights, debuting on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT, follows a fictional high school football team in Texas. How realistic is the show? SI asked players, a coach and a cheerleader at Mansfield Summit High in Arlington to break it down
OFF BASE "The
head cheerleader is always with the star player. That's not how it works. Also,
with the rally girl, [the way she approached the quarterback] wasn't true. We
don't go up to players and say we'll give them whatever they want."
Stephen Johnston,
RB
Age
17
Class
Senior
Ht./Wt. 5'11", 200
Grade for TV RB:
B
Overall grade:
B
ON TARGET
"The things they went through with losing their star player. When their
quarterback gets hurt, everyone was trying to step up, even the running back.
That's how it is. Somebody has to step up when your leader gets hurt. Also,
Texas high school football has a lot of pressure, and they showed that
well."
OFF BASE
"Some of the hits really seem acted, like when the quarterback hit that
guy, it looked kind of fake. On some other hits they looked like they just fell
over. When you get hit, you keep going and try not to go down."
Terry Smith,
Coach
Age
40
Tenure
5 years
Grade for TV
coach: B+
Overall grade:
C+