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Vince Papale Interview - Part 2

Click here to read Part 1 of our interview

DVDF: Now one thing I've got to ask is Janet actually a Giants fan?

Papale: Oh my God, no, I could never marry a Giants fan, never, never, never, never....

DVDF: I couldn't imagine that was true.

Papale: (Laughs) Just kidding fans out there, those New York Giants. Actually, the character Janet Cantrell, my wife's maiden name is Janet Cantrell. We did meet in 1976. We did not have a romantic relationship at that time. The character that is played by Elizabeth Banks, so beautifully by Elizabeth Banks, is feisty, that is the character of my wife now, but the background, that's all fictional, that's a composite of somebody - we sort of felt would bring a lot of humor into the movie and another thing that they could weave through the story which was tremendous, you know, how they weaved her through as a Giants fan.

But yes, her uncle, she really did come back to Philadelphia after a fractured relationship. Yes her uncle did own a bar. And yes she did at times help her uncle out, only in this case the bar owner was Max and that was the bar that I used to work at and also the bar that I played football for.

You know, you tie all those things together and you've got a nice little composite character, and it was just great. I just loved it, especially when she walked into the stands the first time.

DVDF: Oh, that was hilarious...

Papale: And professed her love for the New York Giants! That was great. It was one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

DVDF: And it came off very true that the Philadelphia fans would give her such a hard time.

Papale: Yeah, yeah, it did, it added a nice touch, a certain humor to it. And Elizabeth was so cool. She's just the greatest actress in the world, and to watch her - we watched her recite that diatribe about busting the Eagles, you know, with Sam Huff, and she kept getting tongue-tied when she was doing it. And then she finally got it right and it was pretty amazing.

DVDF: That actually leads to a question from my wife. She was curious to know - is it true that your first wife left you, as it was portrayed in the film?

Papale: Yes.

DVDF: My wife was curious if she tried to contact you again after you made the team?

Papale: Ah, that's how everybody wants the movie to end. Yes, she did call me after I made the team.

DVDF: And did she try to get back together with you...

Papale: Well, she thought it might be nice if we just sort of talked about things that happened in the past, and I didn't feel there was any need for us to go back that far, and it was time for me to move forward.

DVDF: Yeah, she just - my wife had that question because she herself would feel vindicated to know that...

Papale: Yeah, well, a lot of people wanted the movie to end after that scene, the one I had earlier in the training camp, when I was talking to Janet on the phone, and have that phone call with Sharon as she was portrayed in the movie - "Hi, Vince, could we get together." Something similar to that did happen, but it stayed right there.

DVDF: Yeah, that would have been kind of difficult to tie in, the way they built the climax of the movie. Were open tryouts really as ridiculous as they seemed?

Papale: Yeah, they were pretty nuts. Yeah. They had actually had crazier open tryouts back then, you know, but yeah they were pretty insane. He weeded them out right away. Once you ran that 40-yard dash - every position had a minimum 40 that they had - so once you ran the 40-yard dash, he weeded it down pretty well. But you had to have some of that great humor in there and some of those guys. It was just a tremendous light piece. And the guy - Tony Luke Jr. is actually the guy with the cape, with the green cape, he just stole the show -

DVDF: That was hilarious...

Papale: It was, he's a good buddy of mine. The guy's name is Tony Luke Jr. He owns one of the best steak shops in Philadelphia. And he took that very seriously. He said that's a composite of guys who really did believe that they could be down there on the field, and were season ticket holders, regardless of the condition they were in. He said 'I was one of those true believers as a Philadelphia fan, and I didn't want to portray it so much as humorous as the total seriousness of it.' And if you go back and look at it you see just that look on his face, like he was convinced that he could make it happen. I just love that scene.

DVDF: Now Eagles fans are notoriously kind of, shall we say, harsh...NFL coaches have repeatedly said it's the hardest place they play in on a regular basis. Were you the brunt of any negative fan reactions?

Papale: Never. Never. Well, first of all they never threw a pass to me, so I couldn't get booed for dropping the ball. And actually I was one of them. I don't ever remember having received a negative word or a boo from anyone.

DVDF: You were one of them going into the pros so I can imagine them not saying anything to you...

Papale: Yeah, they were pretty good that way. For me to come out of the tunnel - could you imagine the feeling, I mean, think about this. You're coming out of the tunnel, and they say the remainder of the Philadelphia Eagles, and then I sprint 110 yards from the tunnel to the corner of the other end zone, and point up, and look at the guys where I had my season tickets, and they're all absolutely going bonkers. And that's what happened that first Giants game, and there was no way I couldn't go down-field and make the initial tackle, which I did do in real life.

DVDF: I had a sense of elation that I know is nowhere near the amount you were feeling when you were first walking out there, especially when it first showed you coming out in Texas Stadium against the Cowboys. Was it as mind-blowing as it seemed?

Papale: Yeah, they captured it beautifully. Brad Gann as the screenwriter and Ericson Core as the director and cinematographer captured it beautifully, and that's exactly what was going on. It was almost like I had a sense of vertigo. If you go back and re-watch that scene on the DVD, and you see as I'm coming down the tunnel I'm tugging at my shirt because I can't get enough air, and just looking around and seeing Tom Landry and all those other guys, and then they do that circular scene, and it's dizzying. And that's exactly how I felt, until after that first kickoff. I did actually settle down later on in the game and had a fairly decent game. And I actually got in for some offensive plays. But that first play I got absolutely clocked, cause I got deer in the headlights. It wasn't pretty.

DVDF: Yeah, it didn't look pretty...

Papale: It didn't feel pretty. To get blind-sided by Randy White, forget that.

DVDF: Oh man, I can imagine...

Papale: "The Manster." Remember? They used to call him "The Manster." He was half-man, half-monster.

DVDF: You had the shoulder injury that ended your career, in '79 was it?

Papale: Yeah, in '79, I blew out my right shoulder. I had a separated right shoulder and dislocated left shoulder after the first preseason game. Sat out the season on injured reserve.

DVDF: How severe a blow was it when you realized that this kind of great ride that you were on was probably over?

Papale: It was really difficult. And I'm sure I wasn't an easy guy to be around for a while. It was bittersweet, you know, because I really loved my experience as a Philadelphia Eagle, but I knew now that I was a big part of that. I was a fabric of the team, and helped build what I felt was the character that team needed to get to the next level, and to be that close to the Super Bowl and not get there was tough.

But, you know, after it was all over and said and done, and I look back on it and reflect on it, and say 'my God, it would have been great just to be out there." Like they said, if you're out there for one hour, you're out there. And hey, I got out there for 4 years and what could be better than that?

Thanks to Buena Vista Home Entertainment for arranging this interview, and to the great Vince Papale for taking the time to spread a little inspiration.

Be sure to show him some love in the comments!

- DVD specs
- Part 1 of the interview

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Posted by on December 20, 2006 11:30 PM
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