invincible - Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany

A REAL-LIFE ROCKY
“Miracle,” along with Ken Mok and executive produced by Victor H. Constantino, Nicole Reed and Ezra
Swerdlow. Marking his feature-film debut, the film is directed by Ericson Core, an accomplished director
of photography who also serves as the film’s cinematographer, from a script by newcomer Brad Gann. The
film stars Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rispoli and Kevin Conway as well as
featuring an ensemble of real football players who take real hits in their vivid re-creations of 1976 games.
A REAL-LIFE ROCKY:
VINCE PAPALE INSPIRES “INVINCIBLE”
As INVINCIBLE completed production, the man who inspired the film’s story, Vince Papale, was in
awe of all that had happened to him. In addition to being the most unlikely rookie to ever play in the NFL,
Papale has gone on to be a cancer survivor, motivational speaker and, now, the subject of a major motion
picture. “If anybody would have told me that I was going to play for the NFL and then have a Disney
movie based on my life…wow, there’s so much surreality to it,” he says. “It’s scary, it’s spooky and it’s
unreal. But I’m deeply humbled by it all and really touched and honored.”
It may seem like yet another dream come true, but even back in 1976, when the 30-year-old Papale
first got the unheard-of chance to trade in his Philadelphia Eagles season tickets for an actual spot on the
team, many remarked that the story—“fan turns into player overnight”—sounded like a movie. Some
compared him to cinema’s Rocky, the classic Philly underdog who also came to the fore in ’76. Papale’s
tale truly seemed stranger than fiction—and no one found it more unlikely than Papale himself. “I was
just pursuing my dream,” he says, “but I had no idea it would have such a positive impact on so many
people. It’s a really gratifying thing to be in that position.”
Like thousands of other hopefuls, Papale had
decided on a whim to turn up at the Eagles’ 1976
open tryouts, which were held by newly arrived
coach Dick Vermeil because he was looking for
a fresh way to infuse more heart and courage
into a team badly in need of some inspiration.
Most people thought the tryouts were little more
than a stunt. But not Vermeil. He was serious
about finding a talented outsider, and when he
saw the speedy Papale dash across the field, he
decided that Vince was it.
Yet even when Papale was signed as a player,
no one imagined he could last. Surely, he would be pulverized, intimidated, forced to quit by the
extraordinary physical and mental demands of pro football. Once again, Papale proved the naysayers
wrong, playing for three seasons with the Eagles and helping to turn around the fate of a team that would
go on to incredible triumph in Super Bowl XV. At a time when Philadelphia sports fans were crushed by
defeats, and when the nation was recovering from Watergate, Vietnam, the Energy Crisis and a period of
tumult as it approached its 200th birthday, Vince became a badly needed hero from the ranks of ordinary,
everyday Americans.
“Even back in 1976, people talked about how Vince’s story was a movie just waiting to be made,”
executive producer Victor Constantino explains. “I heard from Philly sportswriter Ray Didinger that the
sportswriters themselves used to joke about who would play Vermeil and who would play Papale. Robert
Redford was the consensus choice for Vermeil back in ’76, by the way.”
For all the talk and excitement, however, a movie about Papale never got off the ground in the ’70s and,
in the intervening years, the story was nearly lost. It wasn’t until decades later, with the advent of cable
television, that Papale’s inspirational tale came to light once more. When a contemporary piece on Papale,
Vermeil and the turnaround of the Eagles aired on ESPN, it quickly caught the eye of several filmmakers.
One of those was INVINCIBLE producer Ken Mok, who was riveted by Papale’s unlikely, rags-to-wide-
8