coach in the film. Defensive tackle Alex Karras was serving a suspension from pro-football in 1963 for gambling and was not at the training camp. He is one of Plimpton's main supporters in the film. In the book, Plimpton only plays in an intra-squad scrimmage, where he loses yardage on five straight plays. In the film, Plimpton does well in the scrimmage and scores a touchdown, only to realize shortly afterward that the defense did not give it their all and let him score. The film depicts five plays when Plimpton is permitted to quarterback the Lions in a fictitious pre-season game with the St. Louis Cardinals. There is a scene where Plimpton meets with Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who informs him that he will not be attending the Packers training camp. Plimpton never wrote about any meeting with Lombardi. Cast Alan Alda – George Plimpton Lauren Hutton – Kate Joe Schmidt – Himself Alex Karras – Himself John Gordy – Himself Mike Lucci – Himself Sugar Ray Robinson – Himself Pat Studstill – Himself Roger Brown – Himself Frank Gifford – Himself Vince Lombardi – Himself George Wilson – Himself Lem Barney - Himself Garo Yepremian - Himself Reception Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars of a possible four, writing, "I don't know what to make of 'Paper Lion' as a movie -- it will not be immortal, I guess -- but as wish fulfillment, it's crackerjack." In a 2012 piece in The New Yorker, written upon the release of the documentary Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself, Plimpton's son Taylor criticized Alda's performance. "Alda's version was always angry or consternated, like a character in a Woody Allen film, while my dad, though he certainly faced hurdles as an amateur in the world of the professional, bore his humiliations with a comic lightness and charm—much of which emanated from that befuddled, self-deprecating professor's voice." See also List of American films of 1968 References External links 1968 films 1960s sports comedy films American football films American sports comedy films Detroit Lions Films based on non-fiction books Films set in 1967 United Artists films Biographical films about sportspeople Cultural depictions of players of American football Cultural depictions of journalists 1968 comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films