Redemption’s Playbook | The American Spectator

Sports films, particularly those about football, have a strong inspirational bent.
 You can add the upcoming The Senior to that list.
Atypical but authentic, The Senior isn’t your usual underdog tale. It’s real, it’s raw, and it flips every cliché on its head with a playbook full of grit and plenty of aftermaths. 
The film profiles the life of Mike Flynt, a 59-year-old proud Texan, who returns to college football decades after being kicked off the team — not to coach or cheer from the stands, but to finish what he started on the gridiron decades earlier by donning the pads.   
Flynt, who grew up in Odessa, Texas, graduated from Permian High School and starred on the school’s first state championship team. Permian is the same school that later inspired the book, a film, and then the television series, “Friday Night Lights.” Flynt attended Sul Ross State University on a football scholarship where he became team captain and earned All-Conference honors at linebacker. 
After his tenth campus fight in three years, Flynt proved he wasn’t just a menacing linebacker on the field but also a walking personal foul.  That final brawl is what benched him for good, costing him his spot on the team, his senior season, and his biggest lifelong regret.
“I never stopped thinking about the loss of that year,” Flynt conceded to me last week. 
At a 2007 reunion, a friend challenged Flynt to return still having one semester of eligibility. So, 35 years after getting the boot, Flynt re-enrolls and walks on to prove to his family, former teammates, and himself that it is never too late to tackle your regrets.
The film explores Flynt’s relationship with his wife and son, echoing genuine tensions and support that shaped his comeback. It’s a tale of redemption, faith, and the kind of stubbornness that only comes with age. Along the way, he battles self-doubt, skeptical teammates, and physical pain that results in becoming the oldest linebacker in NCAA history. 
Poetic license allows the omiss…