Football is the biggest American sport around, and its increasing popularity leads to the occasional football movie. It’s most common for these films to be based on a true story, focus on high school or college-age athletes, or tackle professional football through a fictional lens.
The latter is where Him comes into the picture. Directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele, the 2025 football movie follows a generational college quarterback talent, Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), who suffers a horrible head injury during an attack and is then recruited by the USFF’s best quarterback, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), to see if he can still make it in the league.
From the start and through Him’s ending, the movie explores some realistic ideas associated with professional athletes, such as fame, the cost of being the best, and the role that injuries can play in someone’s career. However, it’s impossible not to notice that the movie is completely separated from the National Football League. There’s a reason for that.
Him does not use the NFL name, logo, or any associated teams or trademarks. Instead, the movie exists in a world where the NFL does not exist, with the USFF being the replacement.
It might seem odd at first that the NFL brand is not utilized in a film like Him, which comes from a major studio (Universal), a popular producer (Peele), and has some notable stars. Neither the studio, filmmakers, nor the NFL have officially explained the separation, but there is a rational reason.
The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, with the 32 franchises having a collective value of $228 billion via Sportico. The league and commissioner Roger Goodell are very protective of this brand, and they do not tolerate anything that brings a negative light upon the shield.
Him may have some NFL similarities, but the themes and ideas at play would never fly with the biggest sport in America. The movie includes corrupt agents and owners, shows little regard for CTE, and is more focused on the darker, more violent, and mentally taxing side of professional sports.
That is not the way the NFL wants audiences to look at the sport and its players. Due to its content, there probably was never even a conversation between Universal and the NFL about allowing the film to use its copyrighted materials. That discussion would have likely been short and pointless.
The NFL is rarely involved in movies that tackle professional football in reality. The last major example of the league cooperating was with the Kevin Costner-led 2014 drama Draft Day. That film was allowed to use team names and logos, and even had appearances by Goodell and some real coaches.
Draft Day had the full endorsement of the NFL thanks to its semi-realistic and mostly positive look at the league. Him takes its professional football story in a completely different direction that the brand will never want to be connected to.
Him’s USFF vs. The NFL: What’s Similar & What’s Different
Without the NFL’s blessing, Him had to create an entirely new professional football league. The movie does not spend a ton of time on the specifics of the USFF, but there are several notable differences – and a few similarities – between it and the NFL.
There are only two confirmed USFF teams mentioned in Him: the Atlanta Masoners and the San Antonio Saviors. Neither of these teams exist in the NFL. Atlanta does have a professional football team known as the Falcons, but there is no NFL team located in San Antonio. The closest are the other Texas-based teams: the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans.
The movie does establish that the San Antonio Saviors are the premier team in the USFF. They have a long-running dynasty with Isaiah White as their QB, winning eight championships in 20 years. That gives the Saviors more championships than any NFL team can claim, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots tied for the record with six Super Bowls.
On that note, Him does not use the Super Bowl title for its “big game” due to copyright with the NFL. Its version is the USFF Championship, but the trophy resembles the Lombardi Trophy the NFL uses, and each USFF Championship is counted using Roman numerals, just as the NFL does with the Super Bowl.
Is Isaiah White Inspired By A Real NFL Quarterback?
It’s very clear that Him is not based on a true story, nor is there a young, generational quarterback and an aged, all-time great QB with the relationship depicted here. But, there are some broad similarities between Isaiah White and the greatest to ever play the position.
White is an ultra-competitive personality with a drive for success and perfection so extreme that there’s not much he won’t do. Some of those qualities can be found in everyone from John Elway, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, and Joe Montana to Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson.
There are some interesting parallels to Tom Brady specifically, though. White is shown nearing the end of his career but still doing everything he can to stay in the best physical condition possible. Brady created the TB12 Method late in his career to prolong it and was known for keeping his body in pristine condition as he aged.
It’s also notable that White is an 8-time USFF champion in Him, giving him one more championship than Brady had Super Bowls (7). Nobody else has more than four Super Bowl wins in real life, making the selection for White seem a bit more purposeful.
I also couldn’t help but think about Brady’s torn ACL in 2008 when the movie showed White’s snapped leg in the championship game. Brady’s injury could’ve sent his career downhill, but instead saw him be as good as ever after. White had a similar recovery, according to Him​​​​​​, and kept defying the odds.