Five Reasons To Watch Glen Powell’s Football Comedy, Chad Powers

If an on-the-ropes sports comeback story seems a little earnest, it doesn’t take Chad Powers long to set a different tone. “I’m gonna do a Mrs Doubtfire with football,” proclaims Russ Holliday (Glenn Powell), a washed-up quarterback whose once-promising college football career ends when he disgraces himself in a championship match.

Eight years later, with skills on his side (but age and infamy very much not), Holliday masks up and assumes a new identity: West Virginian hopeful Chad Powers. Boasting an affable Southern drawl, puffy prosthetic features and where’d-this-guy-come-from levels of talent, it doesn’t take long for Chad Powers to charm the scouts at the fictional University of South Georgia, setting up a hilarious quest for redemption.

Tight spirals and Robin Williams-style dress-ups are just the start – there are plenty of reasons to watch Chad Powers. Here are five more.

The original Chad Powers? Eli Manning did it first

With starring roles in recent hits like Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone but You and Twisters, Powell is a huge name – but he’s not the biggest undercover star involved in Chad Powers. The titular character started out as an ESPN sketch featuring two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning as the prosthetic-wearing Chad Powers, trying out for the Penn State football team. Like Powell’s version of Powers, Manning fooled just about everyone – until he ripped his mask off at the end of the sketch, that is.

It’s not just for sports fans

Make no mistake, American football is the backdrop to Chad Powers – but it’s not the only draw. There’s plenty of on-screen charm thanks to some clever casting – Powell as Holliday/Powers, of course, but also White Lotus star Steve Zahn as coach Jake Hudson. And, with its Mrs Doubtfire-style trickery, Chad Powers leaves plenty of room to make audiences laugh – even if they don’t care one iota about football.

Produced by real-deal football pros

Speaking of Eli Manning, the New York Giants legend has teamed up with his brother – the even more legendary NFL quarterback Peyton Manning – to produce Chad Powers. It means that, while the series is very much a comedy, the football elements remain authentic, with the famous duo giving Powell some much-needed pointers on his game.

There’s just something about a comeback story

Sports comeback stories evoke something in us that’s hard to pin down. We know the plot was written by Hollywood pros, but that doesn’t stop us screaming at the TV as our hero finally achieves the redemption they’ve been chasing for so long. With eight years passing since the end of his Oregon Ducks career and so much on the line in his fake-faced deception, we can’t help but think there’ll be a few fist bumps as Chad Powers takes the field.

Glen Powell is a true Hollywood star

They don’t make actors like they used to – but Glen Powell seems primed to inherit the A-list throne from the likes of Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and George Clooney. He isn’t just a heartthrob with a pretty face, either: Chad Powers is a Powell vehicle through and through, with the star also credited as the creator, executive producer and a co-writer.
He goes the extra mile for the role, too. In the scene where Holliday costs his team the national championships and boos ring out around the packed stadium, it isn’t just TV trickery – they’re genuine boos from a real crowd. Last year, during the Georgia vs Mississippi State match at Sanford Stadium, Powell ran onto the field at half-time, with the crowd instructed to boo – and they didn’t miss their chance, either.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Disney+. Chad Powers is streaming from September 30 on Disney+.