Devon Sawa was 15 during filming and much taller than his ten-year-old castmates, so he can be seen wearing only socks in some scenes.
This movie was inspired by an early 1990s McDonald's ad about Pee-Wee Football that ran during the Super Bowl. The day after it aired, Steven Spielberg liked it so much that he called up the ad's creator, James Ferguson, and hired him to write the script.
Ed O'Neill agreed to play Kevin in order to allow his two young daughters something to watch that he starred in and was family friendly. At the time he was still popular for playing Al Bundy on the more adult Married... With Children (1987) and wanted to do a project for his kids they could watch. When he was offered this movie he wholeheartedly accepted. His children were also fans of Rick Moranis' Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and Honey I Blew Up the Kid (1992) so he also jumped at an opportunity to work alongside Moranis.
Duwayne Dunham was removed as director after shooting more than two-thirds of the film. He fell behind during the football game sequences. Brian Levant was brought in for the last few weeks to finish the football sequences, using Rexford L. Metz as his cinematographer. Dunham was retained to supervise the editing at the same time, however, which he saw through to completion.