Released on Christmas Day 2021, American Underdog was a great success in the box office making $26.5 million. The story based on legendary Rams quarterback Kurt Warner highlighted his life on and off the field, his relationship with his wife Brenda and her two kids, Zach and Elijah, and how he became an “American underdog”. It was a truly inspiring film that showed if you want something that seems impossible, you must endure to obtain it.

Kurt Warner, played by Zachary Levi, known for classic movies like Tangled, portrayed the pain, sweat and tears Warner gave in his lifetime. In the movie, you see how he went from a grocery store worker to an arena football player to an NFL champion. His story from the bottom to the top is inspiring, but not the entirety of the film. The film also looks at his relationship with wife Brenda, and her two kids. Straight from the start, Kurt knew that Brenda was different. She was a young woman who had been going through hard times raising two young kids essentially by herself. Brenda was a woman complex, and emotionally wounded, and the movie showed this. But what the movie also showed was her faith in God.

When Kurt first goes on a date with Brenda, she mentions to him her faith in God, at the time not truly impactful to Kurt. Her faith pushes her, however, to support Kurt throughout their journey together. It keeps her from leaving Kurt, and it allows her to forgive him when he essentially “breaks up with her”. This faith inspired Kurt and was the true reason for his underdog story. Kurt once said, talking about his faith and journey, “I am where I am because I believed and I never gave up…” “When you speak and represent the person of Jesus Christ in all actions of your life, people are drawn to that. You set the standard with your actions. The words can come after.”

You see, Kurt wanted so badly to be a football star in the NFL since he was a kid, and he got that, but it wasn’t by his own strength. He met a girl, fell in love with her heart, and that faith she had in Jesus became Kurt’s biggest strength too. The faith Brenda used to support him in his journey to the NFL, that faith carried him to become a true underdog. The movie is out on Blu-ray and dvd now, so if you can, go watch it!