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A Football Life (2011)

Biography · Documentary · Sport

A Football Life is a documentary series developed by NFL Films and aired on NFL Network that documents the lives of select National Football League players, coaches, owners, and teams. Friends, teammates, family members and other players and coaches associated with the subjects are interviewed. The name of the series originated in a quote from Steve Sabol of NFL Films: Originating as an NFL Network special on the career of Bill Parcells in November 2010, it premiered as an episodic series on September 15, 2011, with the first part of Bill Belichick's documentary. The documentary was viewed by about 657,000 viewers, the most-watched documentary in NFL Network's history, and was the second-most watched program in Boston at the time with 151,000 viewers, trailing behind a Boston Red Sox game. Season One was eventually released on DVD. Season Two began on September 12, 2012, with The Faces of Tebow. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology" and "Outstanding Promotional Announcement – Episodic" for Belichick's episode in 2012.

IMDb rating
8.7 (779 votes)
Episode average
7.9 -0.8 vs IMDb
Seasons
11
Language
EN
Type
TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 11 seasons indexed

Seasons

Season 1 (2011)

7.98 avg 9 episodes 7.6 → 7.9 45 min avg

Ep 1: 7.6 · 58 votesEp 2: 7.6 · 53 votesEp 3: 8.6 · 50 votesEp 4: 8.3 · 63 votesEp 5: 8.0 · 63 votesEp 6: 7.5 · 28 votesEp 7: 8.0 · 40 votesEp 8: 8.3 · 45 votesEp 9: 7.9 · 46 votes
Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Bill Belichick, Part 17.658
2Bill Belichick, Part 27.653
3Reggie White & Jerome Brown8.650
4Kurt Warner8.363
5Walter Payton8.063
6Ed Sabol7.528
7Mike Ditka8.040
8Tom Landry8.345
9Al Davis7.946

Season 2 (2012)

7.81 avg 13 episodes 7.2 → 7.8 44 min avg

Ep 1: 7.2 · 43 votesEp 2: 7.5 · 52 votesEp 3: 7.8 · 25 votesEp 4: 8.6 · 60 votesEp 5: 7.7 · 33 votesEp 6: 7.7 · 41 votesEp 7: 7.9 · 24 votesEp 8: 8.3 · 22 votesEp 9: 7.7 · 33 votesEp 10: 7.8 · 26 votesEp 11: 7.9 · 46 votesEp 12: 7.6 · 33 votesEp 13: 7.8 · 38 votes
Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1The Faces of Tebow7.243
2Ray Lewis7.552
3Tom Coughlin7.825
4Cleveland '958.660
5Fearsome Foursome7.733
6Steve McNair7.741
7Eddie DeBartolo, Jr.7.924
8Chris Spielman8.322
9Jimmy Johnson7.733
10John Riggins7.826
11Barry Sanders7.946
12Marcus Allen7.633
13The Immaculate Reception7.838

Season 3 (2012)

7.87 avg 22 episodes 7.8 → 8.4 44 min avg

Ep 1: 7.8 · 38 votesEp 2: 8.5 · 32 votesEp 3: 6.9 · 16 votesEp 4: 8.5 · 36 votesEp 5: 8.3 · 22 votesEp 6: 8.1 · 24 votesEp 7: 7.6 · 30 votesEp 8: 7.6 · 24 votesEp 9: 7.4 · 21 votesEp 10: 7.1 · 33 votesEp 11: 8.0 · 28 votesEp 12: 7.6 · 24 votesEp 13: 8.0 · 22 votesEp 14: 7.8 · 26 votesEp 15: 8.1 · 42 votesEp 16: 7.6 · 30 votesEp 17: 8.6 · 51 votesEp 18: 8.3 · 49 votesEp 19: 7.7 · 32 votesEp 20: 8.0 · 27 votesEp 21: 7.3 · 22 votesEp 22: 8.4 · 49 votes
Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1LaDainian Tomlinson7.838
2Don Shula8.532
3Darrelle Revis6.916
4Derrick Thomas8.536
5Steve Sabol8.322
6Matt Millen8.124
7Michael Strahan7.630
8Pat Summerall7.624
9Warren Sapp7.421
10Randall Cunningham7.133
11Cris Carter8.028
12The Forward Pass7.624
13Steve Gleason8.022
14The Great Wall of Dallas7.826
15Houston '938.142
16Marty Schottenheimer7.630
17Vince Lombardi: Part 18.651
18Vince Lombardi: Part 28.349
19Tiki & Ronde Barber7.732
20Bill Parcells8.027
21Jerry Smith7.322
22Jerry Rice8.449

Season 4 (2014)

7.77 avg 18 episodes 8.0 → 8.2 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.0 · 36 votesEp 2: 6.8 · 15 votesEp 3: 8.3 · 33 votesEp 4: 7.4 · 31 votesEp 5: 7.7 · 23 votesEp 6: 7.9 · 31 votesEp 7: 7.5 · 33 votesEp 8: 7.2 · 27 votesEp 9: 7.4 · 29 votesEp 10: 7.4 · 20 votesEp 11: 8.0 · 36 votesEp 12: 8.1 · 32 votesEp 13: 7.7 · 32 votesEp 14: 7.4 · 16 votesEp 15: 8.1 · 42 votesEp 16: 8.7 · 29 votesEp 17: 8.0 · 28 votesEp 18: 8.2 · 25 votes
Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Joe Greene8.036
2Brandon Marshall6.815
3Sean Taylor8.333
4Warren Moon7.431
5Eric Dickerson7.723
6Doug Flutie7.931
7Terrell Davis7.533
8Ricky Williams7.227
9Earl Campbell7.429
10The Perfect Backfield7.420
11Lyle Alzado8.036
12Dick Butkus & Gale Sayers8.132
13Roger Staubach7.732
14Keenan McCardell & Jimmy Smith7.416
152006 Rose Bowl8.142
16Bill Walsh8.729
17Joe Namath Part 18.028
18Joe Namath Part 28.225

Season 5 (2015)

7.76 avg 13 episodes 7.7 → 7.7 43 min avg

Ep 1: 7.7 · 36 votesEp 2: 8.1 · 25 votesEp 3: 7.4 · 32 votesEp 4: 7.6 · 37 votesEp 5: 7.8 · 19 votesEp 6: 7.7 · 41 votesEp 7: 7.6 · 20 votesEp 8: 8.5 · 22 votesEp 9: 7.6 · 33 votesEp 10: 7.6 · 30 votesEp 11: 7.8 · 25 votesEp 12: 7.8 · 21 votesEp 13: 7.7 · 37 votes
Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Christian Okoye7.736
2Dexter Manley8.125
3Jerome Bettis7.432
4Terrell Owens7.637
5Alan Page7.819
6Steve Largent7.741
7Dick Vermeil7.620
8Paul Brown8.522
9Mike Singletary7.633
10Charles Haley7.630
11Bruce Arians7.825
12Marshall Faulk7.821
13Ken Stabler7.737

Season 6 (2016)

7.80 avg 13 episodes 7.7 → 7.5 43 min avg

Ep 1: 7.7 · 51 votesEp 2: 7.5 · 27 votesEp 3: 8.0 · 24 votesEp 4: 6.7 · 29 votesEp 5: 7.9 · 33 votesEp 6: 8.9 · 49 votesEp 7: 7.9 · 41 votesEp 8: 7.7 · 30 votesEp 9: 7.8 · 28 votesEp 10: 8.1 · 29 votesEp 11: 7.9 · 34 votesEp 12: 7.8 · 38 votesEp 13: 7.5 · 27 votes
Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Brett Favre7.751
2Curtis Martin7.527
3Rodney Harrison8.024
4Chad Johnson6.729
5Steve Young7.933
6Pat Tillman8.949
7Michael Vick7.941
8Jim Brown7.730
9Steve Smith Sr.7.828
10Chuck Noll8.129
11Troy Aikman7.934
12Charles Woodson7.838
13Kevin Greene7.527

Season 7 (2017)

7.82 avg 13 episodes 8.3 → 7.8 43 min avg

Ep 1: 8.3 · 36 votesEp 2: 7.8 · 28 votesEp 3: 8.1 · 34 votesEp 4: 7.9 · 21 votesEp 5: 8.2 · 18 votesEp 6: 8.2 · 21 votesEp 7: 8.4 · 20 votesEp 8: 7.4 · 15 votesEp 9: 7.5 · 14 votesEp 10: 6.9 · 19 votesEp 11: 7.2 · 13 votesEp 12: 7.9 · 24 votesEp 13: 7.8 · 20 votes
Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Dan Marino8.336
2Emmitt Smith7.828
3John Madden8.134
4Wes Welker7.921
5Sam Mills8.218
6Jim Kelly8.221
7Larry Fitzgerald8.420
8Eddie George7.415
9Joe Gibbs7.514
10Jerry Jones6.919
11Aeneas Williams7.213
12John Randle7.924
13Swann & Stallworth7.820

Season 8 (2018)

8.24 avg 11 episodes 8.1 → 8.2 44 min avg

Ep 1: 8.1 · 16 votesEp 2: 8.4 · 20 votesEp 3: 8.2 · 33 votesEp 4: 7.9 · 17 votesEp 5: 8.3 · 18 votesEp 6: 9.0 · 20 votesEp 7: 8.3 · 14 votesEp 8: 8.1 · 17 votesEp 9: 8.2 · 18 votesEp 10: 7.9 · 16 votesEp 11: 8.2 · 16 votes
Season 8 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Carson Palmer8.116
2Lawrence Taylor8.420
3Tony Romo8.233
4Willie McGinest7.917
5Brian Dawkins8.318
6Dwight Clark9.020
7Bill Cowher8.314
8Mike Holmgren8.117
9Cris Collinsworth8.218
10Doug Williams7.916
11Thurman Thomas8.216

Season 9 (2019)

7.65 avg 4 episodes 6.9 → 7.9 53 min avg

Ep 1: 6.9 · 21 votesEp 2: 7.5 · 17 votesEp 3: 8.3 · 21 votesEp 4: 7.9 · 17 votes
Season 9 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Terry Bradshaw6.921
2Tony Gonzalez7.517
3Ronnie Lott8.321
4Bruce Smith7.917

Season 10 (2021)

8.88 avg 5 episodes 8.5 → 9.2 43 min avg

Ep 1: 8.5 · 14 votesEp 2: 9.0 · 19 votesEp 3: 9.1 · 14 votesEp 4: 8.6 · 7 votesEp 5: 9.2 · 6 votes
Season 10 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Nick Saban8.514
2James Harrison9.019
3Calvin Johnson9.114
4Drew Pearson8.67
5John Lynch9.26

Season 11 (2022)

8.52 avg 5 episodes 8.6 → 8.7 43 min avg

Ep 1: 8.6 · 11 votesEp 2: 8.8 · 10 votesEp 3: 8.4 · 8 votesEp 4: 8.1 · 8 votesEp 5: 8.7 · 12 votes
Season 11 episodes - IMDb ratings
#TitleRatingVotes
1Joe Theismann8.611
2Rod Woodson8.810
3Edgerrin James8.48
4Julian Edelman8.18
5Franco Harris8.712

Episode ratings and vote counts from IMDb. Poster, overview, and streaming data from TMDB. Data refreshed 2026-10-03.

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