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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
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October 09, 2006

Friday Night Right?

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

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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+

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