''Playmakers'' is an American drama series that aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

from August 26 to November 11, 2003. It depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team in an unidentified city. The show starred

Omar Gooding Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big OMarcello Thedford Marcello Thedford is an American film actor, television actor and power lifter known for his roles as Kelvin "Buffalo" James on the ESPN dramatic series ''Playmakers'', Semi in '' Employee of the Month'', and in eight episodes of '' ER'' as Leon, ...

Christopher Wiehl Christopher Wiehl (born ) is an American actor. Life and career Wiehl was born in Yakima, Washington and is of Danish and German descent. His father, Dick Wiehl, was an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He graduated from t ...

Jason Matthew Smith Jason Matthew Smith (born November 8, 1972) is an American film and television actor. Background Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was raised in the mid-west with his three siblings and parents, and a pig farm. He lived in Cincinnati through h ...

Russell Hornsby Russell Hornsby (born May 15, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Edward "Eddie" Sutton on ABC Family's '' Lincoln Heights'', as Luke on the HBO drama ''In Treatment'', as Detective Hank Griffin on the NBC series ''Grimm'', a ...

, and

Tony Denison Anthony John Sarrero (born September 20, 1949), also known by his stage name Anthony Denison (also credited as Anthony John Denison and Tony Denison), is an American actor. Early life The eldest of three, he was born and raised in Harlem. He w ...

. The show, which ran eleven episodes, was the first original

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

series created by ESPN. Although the ratings were very high for ESPN—''Playmakers'' was the highest-rated show on the network other than its Sunday night NFL and Saturday college football games—ESPN eventually canceled the series under pressure from the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

, who disliked the portrayal of the negative aspects of its players' lives off the field.

Style

The show followed the lives of various members of an ensemble cast who portray the players and personnel on a fictional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team, the Cougars, in a fictional league (referred to in the series as "The League"Movie/TV helmets
) during the regular season. Many of these segments are prefaced by an internal monologue in the format of a character narrating in his head.

Cast and characters

Main

Omar Gooding Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big OColorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. *

Marcello Thedford Marcello Thedford is an American film actor, television actor and power lifter known for his roles as Kelvin "Buffalo" James on the ESPN dramatic series ''Playmakers'', Semi in '' Employee of the Month'', and in eight episodes of '' ER'' as Leon, ...

as Kelvin "The Buffalo" James, #60 - A fourth year offensive tackle from

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. *

as Derek McConnell, #11 - A fourth year quarterback from

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. *

as Eric Olczyk, #54 - A fifth year middle linebacker from

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. *

as Leon Taylor, #33 - A ninth year running back from USC. * Anthony John Denison as Coach Mike George - The head coach in his ninth season with the team.

Recurring

* Stephen Bogaert - Phil Chambers, Team Equipment Manager *

Bruce Gray Bruce Gray (September 7, 1936 – December 13, 2017) was a Canadian actor, known for multiple roles in films and television shows for over 5 decades. Early Years Gray was born in Puerto Rico and lived in Toronto after 1949. He graduated from ...

- Gene Wilbanks, the team's owner *

Phillip Jarrett Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

- Coach Rudman, Defensive Coordinator and close friend of Coach George *

Karen LeBlanc Karen LeBlanc is a Canadian film, television and musical theatre actress. Early life LeBlanc grew up in Tottenham, Ontario to family from Nova Scotia. She attended the musical theatre program at Sheridan College. Career Starting with a minor rol ...

- Robin Taylor, Leon's wife *

Thea Andrews Thea Andrews (born October 4, 1973) is a Canadian journalist and television personality in both sports and entertainment news, as well as hosting reality competition and morning shows. From October 2003 to November 2006, she served as co-host on ...

- Samantha Lovett, reporter who presumably shows a love interest for Leon Taylor. *

Dan Petronijevic Daniel Petronijevic (born March 28, 1981 in Scarborough, Ontario), known professionally as Dan Petronijevic, is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various feature films, including the '' American Pie'' franchise, and in TV shows such as '' 19- ...

- Thad Guerwicz, a wide receiver who is a closeted gay man *

Kevin Jubinville Kevin Jubinville (born April 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor known for playing The Shep in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' and Bob Venton in '' Rabbit Fall''. Filmography External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jubinville, Kevin 1967 births ...

- Dr. Gatewood, The team Physician *

Sasha Roiz Sasha Roiz ( he, סשה רויז; born October 21, 1973) is an Israeli-born Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Sam Adama in the science-fiction TV series ''Caprica'' and Captain Sean Renard in the American fantasy TV series ' ...

- Stephen Lyles, Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator *

Gabriel Hogan Gabriel Hogan (born 17 May 1973) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is best known for his continuing role on the hit cable television firefighter comedy series ''Tacoma FD'', CBC/Up TV/Netflix’s ''Heartland'' and the drama ''Condor''. ...

- Guard Dog Fredericks * Tacquira LaTouche - Herself *

Frank Chiesurin Frank Chiesurin (born November 26 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film and television actor. He has had roles in a variety of American and Canadian productions, including the films '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse;'' '' 12 Men of Christmas''; ''The ...

- David, Guerwictz's boyfriend * Laura Jordan - August, Guerwictz's girlfriend and later fiancé to publicly cover up his homosexuality * K. C. Collins - Ron Martin, a rookie Wide Receiver for the Cougars.

Roster

Episodes

DVD

The only season of ''Playmakers'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

ESPN Home Video ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...

in 2004.

Awards

* Won AFI TV Award, Top TV Series ( 2003) * Won

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their liv ...

, Outstanding Drama Series ( 2004) * Nominated CSC Award, Best Cinematography in TV Series (2004) * Nominated DGC Craft Award, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Television Series (2004)

References

External links

* * {{ESPN original programming ESPN original programming 2000s American drama television series 2003 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings American football television series English-language television shows 2000s American LGBT-related drama television series Television series by ABC Studios