Playmakers

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Are you ready for some football? Well, too bad. Playmakers, ESPN’s first scripted dramatic series, has a tackle here and a spin move there, but most of the show involves what these knuckleheads do between games. And we don’t mean reviewing film. Alternating first-person narration between characters, we get an inside look at a freewheeling rook scoring drugs minutes before kickoff—and still getting the start—and a vet struggling to keep his family together amid squawking toddlers, a post-football-career-minded wife, and an eager female reporter. Instead of the sport, Playmakers focuses on management pampering stars, coaches mollifying players and management, players acting above the law, and all of the weekday drama common within the stadium walls. Rather than some forced, exaggerated drama, Playmakers is a compelling window into the perks athletes can either abuse or refuse. Now we’re ready for some football.

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