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‘Invincible’ tells inspiring story of former Eagles football player

By Lou Gaul Calkins Media Film Critic 8 min read

PHILADELPHIA – Since his life ranks as a Cinderella story, it seems fitting that Vince Papale has become a Disney character. The rights to tell the fairy-tale-like accomplishments of the former Eagles player were purchased by the Mouse Factory and transformed into Walt Disney Pictures’ “Invincible.” The rousing PG-rated picture, starring Mark Wahlberg (“Boogie Nights”) as Papale, chronicles the rags-to-riches experience of a working-class Pennsylvania guy with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the Eagles, miraculously makes the team and then plays for three years.

The Glenolden, Pa., native still finds it hard to believe that a major studio would spend millions to chronicle the time when new Eagles Coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear of “Little Miss Sunshine”) decided in 1976 to generate interest in the Eagles by having an open tryout for those people who ever had gridiron dreams.

Papale’s impressive running and ball handling convinced Vermeil, who had previously coached only college teams, to give the 30-year-old bartender/substitute teacher an opportunity to wear Eagles green.

It’s an inspirational movie, one that had sports-loving members of a preview audience shouting and cheering as Wahlberg played Papale, who never even played college football, as a warrior fighting for yardage and tackles to make his dream come true.

Papale knows exactly what he wants viewers to carry away from “Invincible.”

“I want people to walk away first of all feeling good about themselves, because that’s the most important thing,” the 60-year-old Papale said in his Four Seasons suite during a publicity tour for “Invincible,” which opens Aug. 25.

“I want people to know that this movie is dedicated to them,” he said. “It’s not about me. It’s about anybody who has been an underdog and told that he wouldn’t, couldn’t or shouldn’t (do something). Everybody who has ever achieved anything in his life has been told that. They had to overcome odds, obstacles and adversity to get to a dream or a goal.”

Interviewing Papale, who lives with his wife, Janet, and their two children in Cherry Hill, N.J., is an energizing experience. He has played for the National Football League (and holds the record as the oldest-ever NFL rookie who wasn’t a kicker) and beaten colorectal cancer. He’s a national spokesperson for cancer prevention, and he helps patients as part of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Fly For Leukemia.

He talks with great enthusiasm and makes it clear that he feels blessed to have a great friend like Vermeil.

“I’ve called him on occasion after he had a big win or a particularly tough loss,” he said. “I just say, ‘Hey coach, we’re thinking about you.’ You don’t have to say a lot.

“When I had colon cancer and my operation (in 2001), the first guy to call me was Dick Vermeil.”

In addition to telling Papale’s story, “Invincible” also details the tough road traveled by Vermeil during his first season as head coach of the Eagles, when fans took every opportunity to boo him. For Papale, the key to making the film revolved around the support of his former coach.

“It was important for us to have Dick Vermeil sign off on the script,” he said. “If that didn’t happen, the film wouldn’t have been the way we wanted it to be. Dick Vermeil and the NFL (which rarely gives approvals to film projects) signed off due to the film’s sense of realism and integrity. That’s the ultimate compliment.

“The NFL was saying, ‘Vince, we believe in you and want to put you out there as the poster child for the NFL.’ I know how much they regard their image and the franchises, and for them to say, ‘You know what, Vince, we’re going to put you out there (on screen) and support you’ – what a compliment. There’s a little bit of responsibility and pressure, but I can handle it.”

How does he like being a role model?

“If there’s any stress, it’s good stress,” he said. “I believe I’m a role model, and I know I’ve let some people down, in my life, and I apologize and am sorry for that. Sometimes in my life, I just didn’t quite get ‘it,’ but I get it now, and I try very hard to make everybody feel that he or she is the most important person I have ever met.

“I try to treat people fairly and squarely. I also have a message to tell about cancer, and this movie puts me on a platform that allows me to do that.”

The picture also put him in the company of Wahlberg, a major star who wanted to be true to Papale’s spirit when playing the role. The former Eagle referred to Wahlberg as “my little brother.”

“I didn’t know much about this Mark Wahlberg guy (when the actor was cast in “Invincible”), so I had to do some research,” Papale said. “My wife and I went out and watched every movie that Mark was ever in, and I really liked (the caper picture) ‘The Italian Job,’ which showed his personality and showed his athleticism, which I hoped he would have.

“My wife Janet and I met him at a hotel, and I had sweaty palms, because Mark is an icon and huge. His palms were (also) sweaty, and the first thing he did was pulled himself to me and said, ‘I love you, brother. I read the script, I know all about you, and I’m going to play the role with enthusiasm and passion and make you proud.’

“He then went out there and just nailed that role and worked so hard.”

What did Wahlberg want to know about him?

“He didn’t ask a lot of questions,” Papale said. “He just wanted to hang out. We played golf together and he watched me interact with people. He came to my house one time when I was having a baseball party for my son’s Little League team. There were 60 people in the house and he just walked right in and said, ‘How are you doing? I’m Mark Wahlberg.’

“I had neighbors come to my house who I had never met before. It was amazing.”

Other topics discussed by Papale included:

His best friend: “I was really close to (former Eagles player) Denny Franks. He and I trained together and we became best friends after I had that free-agent tryout. We were close on the field and remained so afterwards. He’s the godfather of my children.”

His favorite sports film: “‘Rocky’ was one of my all-time favorites, but ‘Miracle’ (about the 1980 U.S. hockey team defeating the heavily favored Russian players at the Olympics) moved ahead of it. I experienced ‘Miracle,’ because I was one of those proud guys (fans) with USA across my chest. It really tugged at my heart, because it was so patriotic and beautiful.”

His view of the world: “It’s scary. I’m concerned about the well-being of my children and their generation and what happens from there. How can anyone not be scared of terrorism? We got the shock of our lives with 9/11, and if people think it (terrorism) can’t hit the domestic front again, they’re crazy.”

His memories of youth: “I grew up in a housing project, and my parents were very poor and never got beyond the eighth grade. They were hard-working people and great athletes, but my mother and father were products of the Depression. My dad was on strike half of the time, because he was working at Westinghouse.

“Economically, it was very difficult for us. Our common bond in this housing project where I grew up was athletics. My whole identity was through athletics, and that’s what saved me. My mom got sick and my dad had two jobs to try and make ends meet. My coaches (at Interboro Junior High School) became my mentors and saviors.”

His method of pain control: “You have to block out pain (during football games). You don’t want to load yourself up with painkillers, because you don’t want to lose your focus out there. You have to toughen your body and have a high tolerance for pain. If you don’t, you won’t survive in the NFL”

His most vivid game memory: “The first time I covered a kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys, I stopped in my tracks – just like the movie portrays it – because it was amazing to look around (at the stands) and realize, ‘I’m representing not only the Eagles but the city of Philadelphia.'”

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