Tony Danza Played a Garbage Man Turned Philadelphia Eagle

Getty Tony Danza once played for the Eagles, for a film role.

Did you ever hear about the garbageman who made the Philadelphia Eagles roster and won them the last game of the season? No, not Vince Papale. He was a bartender and that was a true story. This was the very fictional story of Barney Gorman.

Gorman, portrayed by actor Tony Danza, plays a field-goal kicker for the Eagles and gives one of the most inspiring speeches ever made in the history of cinema, maybe in the history of sports. Seriously, this speech could be translated and used in real-life situations. If you’ve never seen the movie, check it out.

It’s called Garbage Picking Field Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon and for some reason, it became a topic of conversation on Reddit late Wednesday afternoon. In the 1998 Disney film, Danza fires up his Eagles teammates at halftime in the team’s final regular-season game. Heavy.com took the liberty of transcribing the entire speech. It’s powerful stuff. Enjoy!

“You call yourselves Philadelphia Eagles? I’ve been an Eagles fan my whole life. You don’t look like Philadelphia Eagles. You look like a bunch of stockbrokers in helmets. You know with all the money and special treatment we get, it’s easy to forget what this game is all about. I know. I got caught up in it, too. We have a tradition to keep here. We’re the Philadelphia Eagles, not the Los Angeles whoevers. This team is bigger than you and me. It’s bigger than all of us because we come and go but those fans, those fans out there, they stay. And that’s what this team is all about.

“You know, my dad is out there, in those stands today. He’s been an Eagles fan for 70 years. If the Eagles lose on Sunday, you can’t even talk to him until Wednesday and there’s a million other people just like him. The Eagles game is the best three hours they get — it gets them through the rest of the week. And they would love a chance to win the big game but they’ll never get the chance. They are the cops, the bus drivers, the butchers, that’s who we’re playing for.

“Are you guys going to let them down? Well, are you? [No, no, no] Are you? [No, no, no] So let’s go out there and win one for the hard-working people of Philadelphia.”