 Scott Porter , playing the role of quarterback Jason Street , knew that his character would be paralyzed from the first episode on , and said that this was a big part of the reason why he took the role . Porter played high school football as a wide receiver . He also played on a highly successful team in high school , and described himself as huge fan of the Friday Night Lights movie . Meanwhile Taylor Kitsch , the show 's Tim Riggins , said in an interview that he was able to relate to his character based on his own personal experiences : " my father is out of my life , more or less " , he revealed in an interview , " So I discover stuff that maybe I wasn 't even dealing with as a person . " 
