Fighting Back: The Story of Rocky Bleier

One of the better in a series of ABC sports movies put together in the late 70s / early 80s. The fairly routine comeback story is enlivened by the now-deceased but highly likable Urich, who is especially poignant given his own personal tragedy, which mirrors Bleier's unexpected health setbacks. The training sequences are particularly effective and memorable; Urich was well cast and up to the demanding athletic requirements. A little less tearjerking than Something For Joey, a little less relevant and socially conscious than Brian's Song, Fighting Back still belongs in the same mold. Not very groundbreaking but ultimately entertaining and better than most TV-movies thanks to Urich, who is very sympathetic.

Fighting Back, The Rocky Bleier Story is a very well made TV movie from the early 80's. The story of Rocky Bleier is a story of courage and perseverance, and this movie is rather poignant despite its, "Movie of the week," trappings.

As Rocky himself (played very well by the late Robert Urich) points out in the movie, it wasn't just courage, but fear that motivated him to overcome the near loss of his foot in Viet Nam to become one of the NFL's star players. While there is a bit too much melodrama covering Rocky's personal life, the scenes covering Rocky's fight to come back from what should have been a career ending, and crippling, injury are truly inspiring.

The music, the direction, the acting - it's all spot on. Fighting Back truly captures the spirit of the times. Heck, Howard Cosell's appearance is perfect as well - he was such a cultural icon in the 70's and 80's, and his cameo really taps into that. Special mention should also be made of Art Carney's performance as Art Rooney. He did a great job portraying a much loved team owner. Richard Herd was also fairly good in his scenes as Chuck Noll.

You don't have to be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan to enjoy Fighting Back. (As a matter of fact, I can't stand the Steelers - but I LOVE this movie! All of a sudden I found myself rooting for them to make it to the Super Bowl while watching it - even though I knew the outcome of almost all the games shown!) Even fans of other teams will find themselves becoming big Rocky Bleier fans while watching this movie.

As a side note - watch out for a severely edited version of Fighting Back that occasionally gets shown on ESPN Classic. That version isn't even worth showing.

Hopefully the full length version shows up on DVD before too long. I'm sure it would sell fairly well - especially in Pittsburgh!