The Longest Yard is a 1974 movie about inmates at a prison who play American football against their guards. Burt Reynolds portrayed Paul "Wrecking" Crewe in the original, and the coach Nate Scarboro in the 2005 remake. The 1974 original was also the basis for the 2001 movie Mean Machine, starring Vinnie Jones as Danny Meehan, based on the character of Paul Crewe, and featuring soccer (Association Football) instead of American football. Green Bay Packers legend Ray Nitschke appeared in the 1974 version as did the country singer George Jones. The film was originally known as The Mean Machine in the UK, but is now called by its original title there.

The Longest Yard is a remake of the 1974 film of the same name. The movie features inmates at a prison who play American football against their guards. Adam Sandler plays the hero, Paul Crewe, an ex pro-football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Burt Reynolds, the original Paul Crewe, plays a major role as Nate Scarborough, the head coach and a former Heisman Trophy winner from 1955. The rest of the cast includes Chris Rock, James Cromwell, Nelly, William Fichtner and a number of current and semi-retired football players and professional wrestlers including Michael Irvin, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Bob Sapp, Brandon Molale and Dalip Singh Rana.

A football player-turned-convict organizes a team of inmates to play against a team of prison guards. His dilemma is that the warden asks him to throw the game in return for an early release, but he is also concerned about the inmates' lack of self-esteem. Written by Matt Heffernan

Paul "Wrecking" Crewe was a revered football superstar back in his day, but that time has since faded. But when a messy drunk driving incident lands him in jail, Paul finds he was specifically requested by Warden Hazen (James Cromwell), a duplicitous prison official well aware of Paul's athletic skills. Paul has been assigned the task of assembling a team of convicts, to square off in a big football game against the sadistic guards. With the help of fellow convict Caretaker, and an old legend named Nate Scarborough to coach, Crewe is ready for what promises to be a very interesting game. It's only the warden and the guards who have no idea who or what they're up against, with Paul the driving force behind the new team. Written by mystic80