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BROOKSIDE,
AL - The real original The Longest Yard (1974) is one of the
best sports movies of all-time. The film was released as The Mean
Machine in the United Kingdom and South Africa. Less the domestic
violence, the opening scene with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Saturday Night
Special" on the radio in his girlfriend's Citroën SM is vintage
filmmaking. After taking her car without permission and leading police
on a car chase, and subsequent attack of two police officers, Crewe is
sentenced to 18 months in the Citrus State Prison, a fictitious Florida.
However, the film was shot mostly on location at the Georgia State
Prison in Reidsville, Georgia, starring many former pro football players
including Ray Nitschke, Joe Kapp, Pepper Martin and Sonny Sixkiller. The
movie was about as authentic as Hollywood could get back in 1974. The
star actor was Burt Reynolds as Paul "Wrecking" Crewe, a washed up,
point-shaving former NFL quarterback who recruits a group of prisoners
to play a game on the prison yard against the warden's semi-pro team of
prison guards. With the help of Caretaker, Crewe steals the guards
swanky new uniforms and the prisoners play the game as the "Mean
Machine". We'll stop the story there because we don't want to ruin the
end. If you have never seem it, shame on you. If you haven't seen it in
a while, we encourage you to stream it on a slow night. The BDFL doesn't
rate movies, but if we did, we'd give The Longest Yard a
five-star rating. Produced on a $2.9 million budget, the film was a
massive commercial hit, grossing $43 million. It won the Golden Globe
Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. In Week 4 of the
BDFL's 32 season, the league's Mean Machine (Fairfield PowerSleds) ran
roughshod over the 2025 BDFL defending champs (Brookside Dogs) 40-30 in
highest scoring game of the weekend. NOTE: As a sneak preview into the
BDFL's Operation: ALT HELM 2026 initiative, the PowerSleds wore their
alternate helmets and uniforms in this game. The Sleds checked a few boxes with
their alternative look beginning with a tribute to the Birmingham Thunderbolts from
the first XFL in 2001. The "M" on the front of the helmet is for the
"Mean Machine" which is a long-time moniker of the PowerSleds (one of
the BDFL's "Magnificent Seven"), plus lightning bolts have been
synonymous with the PowerSleds since the beginning in 1995.
Saturday
Night Special by Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974)
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As bye weeks come, depth becomes
vital
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AUDUBON
PLACE - In the BDFL, roster depth separates the contenders from
the pretenders. This becomes even more evident when the bye
weeks start rolling in beginning with Week 5 of the regular
season. The BDFL season is more like a marathon with hurdles
than the 400-meter hurdles. Beginning in Week 5, the NFL will
start giving all 32 teams a week off without playing a game.
Some weeks it is just two teams off, other weeks it can be up to
six teams off with byes. However, the BDFL has never taken a bye
week. The blue-collared BDFL believes wholeheartedly in "the
next man up" philosophy and you must have some quality depth to
adhere to the philosophy. The bye weeks can be challenging, but
most all BDFL champions over the last 30 years have leaned on
depth to help propel them to the league's title. Therefore,
solid depth becomes a competitive advantage during the off week
span of the season. The 2026 NFL off weeks can be found at the
top of the weekly Excel spreadsheet pages provided by the BDFL's
award-winning Aladdin Scoring System (@$$) and on the
BDFL's Schedule page online at TheBDFL.com's website and
here below are the 2026 NFL off weeks with the bye/off teams for
each week. Plan accordingly.
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Week 5 OFF: CAR & KC
Week 6 OFF: CIN, DET,
MIA & MIN
Week 7 OFF: BUF, JAX,
LAC & WAS
Week 8 OFF: HOU, NO,
NYG & SF
Week 9 OFF: PIT & TEN
Week 10 OFF: CHI,
DEN, PHI & TB
Week 11 OFF: ATL,
CLE, GB, LAR, NE & SEA
Week 13 OFF: BAL,
IND, LV & NYJ
Week 14 OFF: ARI &
DAL
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