Trivia: One of fictitious Texas State University's (TSU) opponents is Southwest Texas Bobcats (SWT), which was a real school. In 2003, SWT changed their name to Texas State University at San Marcos (they kept the Bobcat nickname). Eventually, when the other schools in the Texas State University System didn't change their names, "at San Marcos" was dropped and they are known just as Texas State University (TSU).
Trivia: After this movie was released, the character Engleberg had to be recast because the actor who played him lost a lot of weight and no longer could play the "fat" catcher so a new heavy actor replaced him in the next two sequels.
Trivia: Jane Lynch plays Lucy Bobby, the mother of Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell). In real life, Lynch is only seven years older than Ferrell.
Trivia: Hulk Hogan claimed he was offered the lead role in this film, which director Darren Aronofsky has disputed. Randy the Ram appears to be partially inspired by Hogan, given he was a megastar in the 80's, has bleach-blonde hair and a tanned skin complexion, and occasionally calls people "brother."
Trivia: The opening scene of the demolition derby cars is footage from the 1966 film "Fireball 500."
Trivia: Melissa Leo plays Mark Wahlberg's mother in the film, even though in real life she's only 11 years older than Wahlberg.
Trivia: The Grand National sequence towards the end of the film combines filmed footage with real footage of the 1983 Grand National.
Trivia: When we see Bugs Bunny for the first time, behind him on the ballpark fence there is a picture of a man with a gun and a detective hat with the words "Mike Maltese, Ace Dick" written nearby. Michael Maltese was the writer for this cartoon.
Trivia: Sylvester Stallone was about to hit some meat in an abattoir. This is part of how his character Rocky Balboa trained in the original Rocky. (00:47:00)
Trivia: Although Eileen Heckart plays Paul Newman's mother in the film, she was only six years older than Newman.
Trivia: Although they played mother and son in this film, Anne Revere was only ten years older than John Garfield.
Trivia: Prior to becoming well-known, Cheryl Ladd, Lynda Carter, and Lindsay Wagner tried out for the role of Rosa Rubinsky.
Trivia: Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in the film. However, his award was overshadowed by an altercation with Chris Rock earlier in the evening, which saw Smith slap Rock in the face after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife Jada Pinkett Smith (which Will initially laughed at). As a result, Smith was given a 10-year ban from the Oscars ceremony, and also lost consideration for upcoming film roles.
Trivia: Throughout the movie, Kurt Warner wore jersey #13, but he is also known as jersey #10 for the St. Louis Rams in the 1999 play-offs.