Piling On

By Amy Lennard Goehner

Are you ready for some football? The NFL season kicks off this week. But if the on-field action isn't enough for you, there's a plethora of new pigskin-themed movies, television shows, books and even a board game for armchair quarterbacks of all ages. Pads and helmets not required.

MADE FOR TV Passions don't run higher than in high school football. The MTV reality show Two-A-Days--the name refers to the practice sked--follows Alabama's Hoover High, while NBC's Friday Night Lights, right, is based on the film.

BIG-SCREEN DRAMA Real-life events inspire three new films: the Rocky-like Invincible (out now); Gridiron Gang, starring the Rock, right (out Sept. 15); and We Are Marshall, about the 1970 air crash that killed most of the M.U. team (due Dec. 22).

PLAYBOOKS John Madden has written a kids' book, Heroes of Football, while Michael Lewis (Moneyball) takes a clear-eyed look at the game in The Blind Side.

WHADDYA KNOW? If you know what number Da Bears retired to honor Dick Butkus, you'll probably score pretty high in the new NFL Gridiron Trivia Challenge game. If you're asking "Dick who?", you haven't got a Hail Mary's chance.