I don’t know what to say, really. Three minutes till biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today. And either we heal as a team, or we’re gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, till we’re finished. We’re in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And, we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or, we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell, one inch at a time. Now I can’t do it for ya, I’m too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who’s ever loved me. And lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that’s, that’s — that’s part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losin’ stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game — life or football — the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it; one half second too slow, too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when add up all those inches, that’s gonna make the fuckin’ difference between winnin’ and losin’! Between livin’ and dyin’! I’ll tell you this, in any fight it’s the guy whose willing to die whose gonna win that inch. And I know, if I’m gonna have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch, because that’s what livin’ is, the six inches in front of your face. Now I can’t make you do it. You’ve gotta look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. Your gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it, your gonna do the same for him. That’s a team, gentlemen. And, either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That’s football guys, that’s all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?
— Al Pacino as Tony D’Amato, Any Given Sunday (Warner Bros. 1999) at 1:28:43.
#MovieQuotes