Dragons Chris Anthony Appears in Disney's "The Game Plan"
Published on September 24, 2007 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New York Dragons News Release
New York Dragons WR/LB Chris Anthony will appear in Disney's upcoming football movie "The Game Plan," which is set to release nationwide on Friday, September 28th. Anthony is joined by more than 25 other AFL players who were on an active roster in 2007.
"The Game Plan" stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who plays the Boston Rebels' arrogant quarterback Joe Kingman. Just as Kingman is steadied to lead his team into the playoffs and beyond, he finds out that he has a eight-year-old daughter that he never knew about. He's forced to change his bachelor lifestyle as he deals with balancing the most important time of his professional football career. The film also stars Kyra Sedgwick as Stella Peck, Kingman's hard-nosed agent.
"One of the benefits of being in "The Game Plan" was getting to work with the Arena Football League players," said Johnson. "They brought a special dedication and energy to the film, but more importantly, they brought a great reality to our movie. All of the AFL guys in the movie are great players in their league. They're the top guys at what they do."
In the film, Anthony portrays "Cooper," the Boston Rebels' tight end.
"It was a great experience just to see how a feature length picture is put together," said Anthony. "I had a lot of fun learning the process while getting to know people from that world as well as getting to know some other arena guys in the movie. A lot of the guys I knew by name but had never had a conversation with so it was a good experience. As far as the movie making process, I definitely have an appreciation for the editing process. I would describe it as a monumental task."
For the Dragons, Anthony plays both sides of the ball as a linebacker and wide receiver. In 12 games in the 2007 season, he recorded 717 yards and 17 touchdowns. On defense he added 21.5 tackles. Anthony will enter his sixth season with the Dragons in 2008.
The movie includes a host of other AFL players, including former Dragons Ricky Hall, Leon Murray and Geir Gudmundsen. Hall portrays "Wolpert" of the New York Dukes, the Rebels' rival. Murray plays one of Johnson's doubles, while Gudmundsen plays the Rebels' right tackle.
All players in the film were required to attend a three-week training camp run by Mark Ellis of ReelSports prior to filming where they went over offense, defense and special teams in preparation for the movie. Ellis was the coordinator for the football scenes in the film.
"The Game Plan" is produced by well-known sports film makers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, who also produced such sports films as "Invincible," "The Rookie" and "Miracle."
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from September 24, 2007
- Dragons Chris Anthony Appears in Disney's "The Game Plan" - New York Dragons
- Current And Former Storm Members Appear In Disney Movie - Tampa Bay Storm
- AFL Athletes Hit The Silver Screen - AFL I
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