Line #17 Series/Playmakers

Context Series / Playmakers

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1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2024_03_30_185532.png]]
2	%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]
3	-->''"This league's like life: when you're a playmaker, the rules don't apply."''
4	-->--'''Demetrius Harris'''
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6	''Playmakers'' is a sports drama series by [[Series/TheBlacklist John Eisendrath]] and broadcast on Creator/{{ESPN}} between August 26 and November 11, 2003. Featuring an EnsembleCast, the show followed a fictional UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball team, the Cougars, as they navigate professional and personal struggles both on and off the field.
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8	Despite critical acclaim and high ratings--drawing more viewers than ESPN's professional and college football coverage--the show was cancelled [[ExecutiveMeddling under pressure]] from the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague, which objected to the unflinching portrayal of the game's darker aspects, particularly the WartsAndAll look at the football players themselves.
9	----
10	!!''Playmakers'' provides examples of:
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12	* CareerEndingInjury: Leon narrowly avoids one of these in "Halftime", after having begun the series being taken off the team's injured reserve list.
13	* DomesticAbuse: Leon's deteriorating marriage to Robin causes a violent incident which engulfs him in scandal midway through the series.
14	* FunctionalAddict: D.H. is portrayed in this way, as his crack habit only occasionally impacts his ability to play the game. Rather, the main threat from his habit is that it will become too public, resulting in an arrest or a rehab stint that will remove him from the field.
15	* GroinAttack: In a manner of speaking. In order to cheat the league's drug test, D.H. goes through a procedure to have clean urine injected into his bladder. It's as painful as it sounds.
16	* NewscasterCameo: Albeit not a cameo, but a supporting role. Samantha is played by Thea Andrews, who at the time of the show's airing was a personality on ESPN's live broadcasts.
17	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The NFL, assuming it's the league the Cougars belong to, is not mentioned by name. It is referred to simply as "the league". (Not that this saved the show from incurring the wrath of the NFL in real life.)
18	* TheRival: Leon and D.H. are rivals to each other, and very bitterly so.
19	* TitleDrop: Given by D.H. in the pilot, in the form of a voice-over monologue.
20	-->''"Comin' out of college, you had this rep. Drugs, partyin'. So when you signed, the team put an off-duty cop on your ass. Son of a bitch taped everything. So one day, the owner of the team calls you in, and shows you the tapes. You're thinkin' 'I'm done', you know? Gonna have to bug an uncle for a job on his garbage truck in Jacksonville. Then it happened--the moment you realized it's all good. The man just tore it up and suggested you change your ways. No shit. It was a suggestion. This league's like life: when you're a playmaker, the rules don't apply."''

Context Series / Playmakers