Movie Review – Necessary Roughness (1991)

What happens when a prestigious college football program is caught in a major scandal, loses all of its players and coaches, is not allowed any scholarships, and IF it wants to continue with its program, then is has to recruit players from the student body?

The answer is a film like 1991′s Necessary Roughness.

In Necessary Roughness, Texas State University is basically handed the “death penalty” by the NCAA.  They lose all of their players, coaches, and the ability to award football scholarships.  In order to have a football program, the school needs to conduct tryouts from the active student body.  In this case, the end result is a comedy of amateur student athletes trying not to get killed on the playing field.

Directed by Stan Dragoti and with music composed by Bill Conti, Necessary Roughness stars Scott Bakula as Paul Blake, a 34-year-old farmer who is recruited to play college football for Texas State.  Hector Elizondo plays the head coach Ed Gennero, a straight shooter who runs a clean program.  Robert Loggia plays assistant coach Wally Rig.

Supporting them are Sinbad as Andre Krimm, a graduate student who is still eligible to play ball; Jason Bateman as Jarvis Edison, the son of a very wealthy alumni; Kathy Ireland as Lucy Draper, a female soccer player recruited to be the team’s kicker; Harley Jane Kozak as Dr. Suzanne Carter, a teacher who remembers Paul Blake from years ago; Larry Miller as Dean Phillip Elias, an administrator who’s against the football team; Fred Thompson as Carver Purcell, the president of the university; and Rob Schneider as Chuck Neiderman, the radio and P/A announcer for the football stadium.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Necessary Roughness begins with an ESPN SportsCenter broadcast with Chris Berman talking about a major scandal that occurred at Texas State University.  What was once one of the top football programs in the country has been reduced to nothing thanks to recruiting violations, steroids, illegal payment to players, and grade tampering.  The coaches were fired, the scholarships were removed, and all but one of the players were kicked off the team.  It’s basically the “death penalty,” such as the one that occurred at Southern Methodist University back in 1987.

After the broadcast, Texas State University President Carver Purcell (Fred Thompson) approaches Ed Gennero (Hector Elizondo) and inquires about him being the new head coach at the university.  Gennero is nicknamed “Straight Arrow” as he once kicked five all-American players off a team for violations of team rules.  Purcell tells Gennero that there won’t be any pressure from the boosters.  All he has to do is run a clean program.  Gennero accepts the proposal and becomes the new head coach of the Texas State Fightin’ Armadillos.Once arriving at Texas State, Gennero talks his old friend Wally Rig (Robert Loggia) to help coach the team.  They’ll split it right down the middle.  Gennero will control the offense while Rig has the team’s defense.

All but one of the previous team’s players were removed, and since they cannot use any scholarships to attract players, Gennero has to recruit directly from the student body.  They hold an open tryout session and have the best students join the football program.  As we see, many of the new players are oddballs who really don’t belong on the playing field.  Even the team’s quarterback has trouble throwing the most basic of passes.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

To solve the quarterback problem, Coach Rig drives a few hundred miles out to visit Paul Blake (Scott Bakula).  Blake is 34 years old and running his family’s farm.  He was an all-star quarterback at high school and recruited (by Rig) to play that position at Penn State, but Blake’s father died.  He needed to return home and help run the farm.  Despite not playing ball, Blake has a dummy receiver in one of the fields, and he continually practices throwing passes to it.

Coach Rig explains that since he never played college ball, Blake is still eligible to fulfill his dream of playing ball at the next level.  Blake initially refuses the offer as he’s getting old and is needed on the farm.  Besides, he doesn’t want to get the snot beaten out of him when playing against the experienced teams.  Rig convinces Blake to play when he tells him to go back and admire all of his high school trophies (in other words, nothing special).

Back at the university, President Purcell takes Coach Gennero to meet with Dean Phillip Elias (Larry Miller).  As we can see, Dean Elias is against the idea of forming another football team.  Coach Gennero assures him that all of the football players will meet academic requirements without any special treatment or privileges.  Any player who cannot meet the university’s requirements will be kicked off the team.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Paul Blake joins the Texas State football team, and his superior passing ability is immediately noticed by his teammates.  Perhaps the team will win a few games with a quarterback like Blake taking the snaps.  In the college dormitory, Blake is assigned to be roommates with Manumana (Peter Tuiasosopo), a Samoan and the center on the football team.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Later, at the recreational center, an attractive woman (Harley Jane Kozak) accidentally hits Paul Blake in the head by a racquetball.  She finds him again in the cafeteria and makes sure that Paul isn’t injured.  The woman assumes that Blake is a fellow teacher, though he plays along with that assumption.

That evening, Gennero and Rig are working on the depth chart when Dean Elias informs them that several players are academically ineligible to play football.  This severely cuts the number of players and they don’t have enough to fill both the offense and defense.  The only way to make it work is to have most of the players play ironman football, playing both offense and defense in the same game.  Rig is skeptical, especially since most of the players are weaklings compared to other programs, but Gennero is determined to make this work.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

One of Paul Blake’s classes is journalism.  Several of his teammates are also taking it as previous sessions of that class were considered to be very generous (a.k.a. a slacker course) to football players.  At first Blake is mistaken for the instructor.  When the real instructor walks into the room, both she and Blake are confused.  It turns out that the woman from the rec center is Dr. Suzanne Carter.  She’s angry that Blake never corrected her the other day when she thought that he was also an instructor.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

The teacher in Blake’s astronomy class is Andre Krimm (Sinbad), a graduate student working on his doctorate degree.  Krimm used to be an all-star high school player and he earned a college scholarship.  Near the end of his playing career he left football to continue focusing on his academics.  Blake explains that Krimm still has a year of eligibility left, and the football team could really use his help.  Krimm agrees and joins the team.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

The Texas State Fightin’ Armadillos play against Southwest Texas Bobcats for the first game of the ten-game season.  Chuck Neiderman (Rob Schneider) is up at the press booth announcing the game.  As expected, the team performs poorly against the Bobcats.  It’s a comedy of errors as the inexperienced players feel what it’s like to play football at the college level.  At one point Paul Blake changes a play and throws a deep pass to a wide open receiver.  The pass is incomplete and Coach Gennero benches Blake for changing the designated play.

After the game, Coach Gennero reprimands Paul Blake for showing him disrespect in the football game.  He also wants Blake to step up and lead his teammates, even if it means hanging out with them off the field.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

To help the team practice, one day they play a scrimmage against prisoners in the Texas state penitentiary.  The convicts include real life players and legends such as Jerry Rice, Earl Campbell, Dick Butkus, Herschel Walker, Evander Holyfield, and Jim Kelly.  The scrimmage goes poorly as all the convicts want to do is cheat and beat the snot out of the Texas State Fightin’ Armadillo players.

The next game for the Armadillos goes poorly, and the players begin to fight amongst themselves in the locker room.  Paul Blake stops the fight, but he’s receives some flack since he doesn’t have to play on both offense and defense.  Andre Krimm settles down the players, and after the game they all, including Paul Blake, go out to a western bar to relax and vent some steam.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Also at the bar are some players from the number one ranked Texas Colts, including their star defensive back, Harlan “Flat-top” Meyers (Tom Whitenight).  Harlan tries to pick a fight but Blake prevents him.  He even buys Harlan a beer which Harlan pours it on Blake.  Blake then tries to punch out Harlan.  His efforts fail and a large brawl breaks out between the Colts and Armadillos.  The bartender has to call the sheriff as people are fighting all around him.

Dean Elias later arrives at the bar and expects to find his football players under arrest.  He heard about the brawl on his CB radio and can’t wait to bust the players and dismantle the football program.  He’s surprised when he finds it calm in the bar and the opposing football teams playing a friendly game of pool.  Ed Gennero explains to Dean Elias that the sheriff is not going to arrest anybody as it would also implicate the Texas Colts, and doing so would greatly upset the people who voted the sheriff into power.  So technically nobody is in trouble with the law.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

After the fight at the bar, Paul Blake visits Suzanne Carter at her home.  What begins as Paul looking for advice ends up with Suzanne revealing her true feelings towards him.  It turns out that they were both in high school at the same time.  Suzanne was the head cheerleader and in a relationship with the quarterback at a rival school.  Paul’s team met that team for the state championship, and they destroyed them.  This devastated Suzanne’s boyfriend and it lead to her fascination with Paul Blake.  Apparently that crush is still in full effect with the two of them meeting again years later.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

One day coaches Gennero and Rig are walking around the football stadium when a rogue soccer ball goes flying their way.  The kicker of the ball is Lucy Draper (Kathy Ireland), a member of the women’s soccer team.  Gennero recruits Lucy and has her try a few field goal kicks.  Sure enough, she’s an ace when it comes to kicking the ball.  Some of her teammates give her a hard time because she’s a woman, but Manumana is quick to defend her.

Texas State’s next game is against the Kansas Jayhawks.  It’s pouring during the entire game, though this time the team’s defense is stepping up and preventing the Jayhawks from scoring any touchdowns.  Texas State is only down 3-0, but it’s the end of the fourth quarter and they have possession of the ball within field goal range.  Coach Gennaro sends Lucy out to kick the game-tying goal.  She succeeds and the game ends as a tie, breaking Texas State’s losing streak.

After Lucy kicks the field goal, one of the Jayhawk players intentionally hits her hard.  Her teammates want to start a fight, but Lucy takes care of things herself.  She gets up and uses her powerful kicking leg to strike the Jayhawk right in the balls.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

After the game is a party held by Grant Edison, Jarvis’s wealthy father.  Grant owns several businesses in town and he’s donated millions to the university itself.  Grant rewards the football team with a fancy dinner, and he has purchased all of them expensive jackets.  Coach Gennaro arrives and orders all of his players to remove the jackets and to leave the party immediately.  He’s not about to have them get tempted with the offerings from boosters, especially when it can result in severe penalties from the NCAA.  Paul Blake gets into an argument about it with the coach, and when the coach doesn’t see things Paul’s way, Paul quits the team.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Paul Blake leaves campus the next day.  Joining him at the last minute is Jarvis Edison (Jason Bateman).  Jarvis admits that he’s always been a lousy student and has others complete his homework.  Whenever he receives a bad grade on a test, his father bribes the teacher to change the grade.  He knows that the NCAA is going to find out about it and further penalize the school.  He also knows that if he stays and tries to take the tests honestly, he’ll fail and be kicked off the team.  So he’s quitting and running away.

Paul Blake tries to tell his friend that quitting isn’t the way to go, but Jarvis counters it and reminds Paul that he quit the team.  It’s a double-standard.  Blake thinks about this for a moment and then turns around his jeep.  He’s not going to let himself or Jarvis be a quitter.  They return to campus and Andre Krimm uses special software to help Jarvis study for the upcoming midterm exams.  On the practice field, Coach Gennero welcomes Paul Blake back to the football team.

The midterms are finished and Jarvis Edison scores a “C”.  Dean Elias tries to take the exams away from Dr. Carter and re-grade them, but she stops him by threatening to use an academic review.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

That evening, Gennero and Rig are preparing to have dinner when Gennero experiences severe chest pain.  Thinking that it’s a heart attack, the paramedics rush him to the hospital.  Coach Rig visits with Gennero and sees that the man is resting in bed.  He’s waiting to hear the test results from the cardiologist.  Him being in the hospital means that he will not be able to coach the final game against the Texas Colts.  Gennero gives his playbook to Rig and tells him to be the head coach for that game.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Rig is now the head coach and the Fightin’ Armadillos face the still undefeated Texas Colts in the final game of the season.  The first half of the game goes poorly for Texas State as Harlan Meyers keeps blitzing and putting pressure on Paul Blake.  It’s clearly a one-sided game by halftime.

In the locker room at halftime, Coach Rig goes into a tirade about how nothing is working out there.  Wearing a suit is not working, and neither is trying to impersonate Gennero’s playing style.  He fires up the team and they begin playing better in the second half.  They score two touchdowns and cut the Colts’ lead down to seven points.

Dean Elias has re-graded the midterms anyway, and he tries to show them to University President Purcell while they’re on the sidelines.  Dean Elias is arguing that the players should not be allowed to play because of their grades, but Purcell won’t listen to him.  He knows that he’s nitpicking and trying to eliminate the football program.  A play takes the players out of bounds and they accidentally tackle Dean Elias.  While he’s on the ground and figuring out the license plate of the truck that hit him, Purcell tells Elias that he’s fired.

Everybody is surprised when Ed Gennero shows up on the sidelines.  It turns out that he had a bad episode of indigestion that triggered some heart attack-like symptoms.  The team rallies at the sight of Coach Gennero, and the Texas State defense recovers a critical fumble, giving the ball back to the Fightin’ Armadillos.  Paul Blake leads the team down the field and they score a touchdown as time runs out in the fourth quarter.  They do a fake field goal and score a two-point conversion, winning the game.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – (c) Paramount Pictures

It’s a massive celebration as Texas State upsets the University of Texas.  Of course, this is Texas State’s only win of the season and they finish 1-1-8, but it’s a win against their heated rivals.  It also proves that you can take ordinary collage students and convert them into a winning football team.

Necessary Roughness ends with the celebration on the field.

So is Necessary Roughness a good movie?

Despite its flaws and a large helping of cheese, I still like this film.  It’s a decent story that sticks with good moral values, and college football players are held to high standards.  There aren’t any scandals involving this group of players.

Of course, this film still has quite a few faults.

For starters, we’re meant to believe that Texas State is a Division I-A football program, and that it earned consecutive football championships.  The school itself looks incredibly small with virtually no student body.  It’s hard to believe that it housed a major football program.

Necessary Roughness would have been more believable if it just put the fictitious (at that time) Texas State University as a Division I-AA  school.  It could have made a similar impact since most of the games were against small schools.  It’s a little bit odd that the film used the correct mascot for Kansas (the jayhawks), but it changed the mascot and school colors for the University of Texas in the final game.  Speaking of the Texas Colts, they played really poorly considering the were the number one team in the nation.

But this is a comedy and certain liberties are taken when it comes to the story.

The relationship between Paul Blake and Dr. Suzanne Carter also wouldn’t have happened like that in real life, especially with the dean knowing about it and them showing affection out in public.  Most colleges have strict rules against teachers being with students, especially if it’s a student in the teacher’s class.

In the end, Necessary Roughness is another classic story about underdogs working together and accomplishing a major goal.  It’s similar to such films as Major League and The Longest Yard.  Fans of the 2000 football comedy film The Replacements will find Necessary Roughness extremely similar.

Necessary Roughness (1991) – movie trailer

As I previously stated, I enjoyed Necessary Roughness.  There are a lot of familiar faces in the cast, the overall story isn’t bad, some of the dialogue is witty, and the music score is pretty good.  This could have been much better, but what’s there in the end isn’t that bad of a film.  Don’t look too deep into this movie and you may enjoy it as well.

Coach Rig – “Not much of a crowd.”
Coach Gennero – “Well, at least we have the home field advantage.”
Coach Rig – “The Alamo was the home field.”

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Chuck Neiderman – “I hope you stay tuned as the Texas State marching band does its salute to gun racks and open beverage containers; which is only legal in Texas.”

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Coach Rig – “I don’t wanna put any undue pressure on you guys, but Coach Gennero’s last words were, win or I’ll die.”

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Chuck Neiderman – “A 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown could give the Colts a false sense of confidence going into the second minute of play.”

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Paul Blake – “You’re hurt. You’re tired. You’re bleeding. I’m gonna make you a promise. We get into that endzone, you’re not gonna feel any pain.”