Now that Robert De Niro is playing Vince Lombardi, we picked out five current coaches and the actor who should portray them:
5. Bill Belichick: Phillip Seymour Hoffman » He’s the only one who can pull off that disheveled genius look the way Belichick does on the sidelines. The hoodie look would suit Hoffman well.
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4. Phil Jackson: Donald Sutherland » They have the same look and Sutherland could play Jackson with or without the beard. And he has that flakey-but-hip appeal that suggests, “I had a good time in the 1970s; I think.” If Sutherland bails, we’ll ask Jeff Bridges to channel his inner Big Lebowski.
3. Roy Williams: Forrest Gump » Yes, we know he’s not a real person and it was Tom Hanks. But we’d only want Hanks to play Williams as if he were the ever-likeable Gump. Why? His Ol’ Roy schtick and Gump’s box of chocolate routine sort of mesh nicely, don’t you think? Besides, imagine Gump portraying Williams’ penchant for fast breaks, saying in his southern drawl, “Whenever we get the ball, we are runnin'”
2. Urban Meyer: James Caviezel, the guy who played Jesus in “Passion of the Christ” » Considering many already say that Meyer thinks he’s God’s gift to the coaching world, this is a natural. Backup choice: Tim Tebow. Since, well, you know, some say Caviezel and Tebow share something in common.
1. Joe Torre: Ted Danson » We know he can play an athlete, having done so, sort of, on Cheers. But he’d have to remove his hairpiece to play the balding Torre. At least Danson prepped for scenes with Yankees management while starring in “Three Men and a Baby.”
