The film features an ensemble cast that includes Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Ann-Margret, Lauren Holly, Matthew Modine, John C. McGinley, Charlton Heston, Bill Bellamy, Lela Rochon, Aaron Eckhart, Elizabeth Berkley, and NFL players Jim Brown and Lawrence Taylor.

[2] The quote was originally derived from a statement made in 1952 by then-NFL commissioner Bert Bell, about the league's devotion to financial and competitive parity.

A. Tittle, Pat Toomay, Warren Moon, Johnny Unitas, Ricky Watters, Emmitt Smith and Terrell Owens, as well as coach Barry Switzer.

As the media hails Beamen as the next model of quarterback, the newfound success feeds his growing narcissism and leads to tension with teammates and coaches.

As the playoffs arrive, Sharks middle linebacker Luther Lavay reminds Beamen about how lucky he is to be in the league, and to find a life outside of football; his words fall on deaf ears.

At the end of the film, D'Amato laments to gathered media about his team's loss to San Francisco but does not reference their mascot.

Expansion Team: Oliver Stone developed a script called Monday Night written by Jamie Williams, a former tight end for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and later the San Francisco 49ers, and Richard Weiner, a sports journalist.

Huizenga was the intern doctor for the Los Angeles Raiders in their 1980s heyday, working under Dr. Robert T. Rosenfeld, who dismissed many players' injuries with the phrase, "You're okay, it's just a bruise".

Huizenga left the Raiders in the early 1990s, disgusted at the way that the medical advice was kept from players and Rosenfeld being allowed to continue treating them after several mishaps, one of which is closely mirrored in the film—Shark's neck injury and risk of sudden death, based on the real-life Mike Harden case.

Director Oliver Stone's first two choices to play Tony D'Amato were Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

[5] Ving Rhames was originally cast in a role in the film, but he dropped out due to production delays and scheduling conflicts with Mission: Impossible 2.

Director Oliver Stone failed to get the National Football League's permission to use real NFL team logos and stadiums for the film.

Practice scenes were filmed in the ill-fated Homestead Sports Complex, which was built for spring-training baseball; however, the stadium was damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and eventually torn down without ever hosting a Major League team.

Oliver Stone's best movie in many years—and one of his finest ever—looks at the world of professional football from almost every conceivable angle, but it never tries to be the definitive statement on the subject.

A surprisingly balanced film that merges Stone's hyperkinetic style with a character-centric narrative approach reminiscent of John Sayles and Robert Altman at their best, Sunday proves that powerful human drama and MTV visual pyrotechnics actually can coexist after all.

Pacino has some nice heart-to-hearts with Quaid and Foxx, and the psychology of the veteran coach is well-captured in the screenplay by Stone and John Logan.

But if some studio executive came along and made Stone cut his movie down to two hours, I have the strangest feeling it wouldn't lose much of substance and might even play better.

"[15] Conversely, Richard Schickel of Time criticized the story as being "standard", and stated "(a)lmost three hours of this jitter deteriorates from bravura filmmaking to annoying mannerism, and Any Given Sunday ends up less than the sum of its many, often interesting parts.

"[16] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail wrote that the story was "(c)hoc-a-bloc with manly blather about sacrifice and honour and rugged individuals pulling together for the greater glory of the team".

[16] Elaborating on many critics' shared observations[16] that the movie was "hyperkinetic", Jack Matthews of the New York Daily News stated that "the sensation we get from the blizzard of images and teeth-jarring sound effects is of having our head used as the football".

Stephen Holden of The New York Times criticized Dennis Quaid as too old for his part, Cameron Diaz as "not up to the dramatic demands of her unsympathetic character", and the "ludicrously upbeat" ending, but complimented the portrayal of in-game action, in which the "kinetic furor of the game sequences helps camouflage the weaknesses of a screenplay that is a mechanically contrived series of power struggles".