There are only 10 men in history who have won the Heisman Trophy and gone on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That elite group is the focus of “The Perfect 10,” a new documentary from FOX Sports Films, which premieres at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on FOX and the FOX Sports App.
The film includes a group conversation among seven of the 10 men with that distinction. That includes Raiders legends Marcus Allen and Tim Brown (of USC and Notre Dame fame, respectively), Texas and Houston Oilers icon Earl Campbell, Pitt and Cowboys star Tony Dorsett, Oklahoma State and Lions great Barry Sanders, Navy and Cowboys legend Roger Staubach, and Michigan, Raiders and Packers star (and FOX Sports NFL analyst) Charles Woodson.
Brown and Woodson also serve as executive producers on the film.
The documentary uses archival footage and first-person narratives from the players on each of their accomplishments, providing a glimpse into their lives both on and off the football field.
At a premiere screening event Saturday afternoon in Tempe, Arizona, Brown talked about how he learned of the rare club the day of his Hall of Fame induction in 2015. The 1987 Heisman Trophy winner said he was in disbelief that so few players had accomplished the two feats.
“Wow, what an incredible legacy we’ve left on the football field,” Brown said Saturday. “Can we get together and leave an incredible legacy off the field? So, that was the whole beginning of the thought process.”
Sanders said he also was stunned by the exclusivity, and as the film points out more men have walked on the moon than have both won the Heisman and reached Canton.
“I was surprised just like Tim, thinking, ‘Surely, there’s more men who have done both,’” Sanders said.
“Many of us cross paths here and there, and we’re at similar events. So many of these guys I admired … and I’ve always had great respect for, even before this came together.”
Allen, Brown’s former Raiders teammate and good friend, said it was an easy decision to participate in the film when his buddy made the request.
“I look around (at the other Heisman-winning Hall of Famers), and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I’m like a kid in a candy store, with Earl Campbell, Tim Brown, Charles Woodson, Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett. And these are my friends,” Allen said Saturday.
“So, this for me was a great coming-together of really sort of a locker-room conversation, and this is what we really do most of the time … The more we talk, the more we find out we have in common.”
Woodson, the youngest member of the group, was the last to join the club when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021. The Michigan cornerback also made history as the first player who primarily played defense to win the Heisman.
“My mind just goes to all the people who have played this game — the amount of little-leaguers, junior high, high school, college and then professional football,” Woodson said. “And to just take that piece of wood and carve it down to 10 guys that have done this specific thing … We’ve done something that not many of have done.”
The film is produced in partnership with Hall of Fame Village Media, H2H Productions and NFL Films and is narrated by two-time Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” fame.
“FOX Sports is thrilled to present audiences with the captivating and inspiring stories behind these legendary football icons while celebrating their individual legacies as we head into Super Bowl Sunday,” FOX Sports vice president of development and original programming Barry Nugent said.
Four-time Emmy winner Steve Trout (“Hard Knocks”) serves as director. Trout said Saturday that bringing seven members of the group together for filming in Dallas was “six hours of magic.”
“In films, we always try to humanize everybody. You take the helmets off, and these aren’t football robots, and that was kind of the pitch with them.” Trout said.
“We saw the real sides of all of them, and that was the goal. We wanted to make that room, the greatest meeting room of the greatest clubhouse in NFL history.”
The other three members of the elite group are the late Paul Hornung (Notre Dame and Packers star) and Doak Walker (SMU and Lions halfback), along with O.J. Simpson (USC, Bills and 49ers).
“The Perfect 10” premieres one day before the Chiefs face the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX and the FOX Sports App.
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