Badger football spotlighted in ‘Draft Day’

The Badger football team has a supporting role in the movie “Draft Day,” starring Kevin Costner, which premiered this month, in advance of May’s National Football League draft.

The film depicts the pressure mounting on the general manager of the Cleveland Browns as he tries to make the best move for his team. By virtue of a poor season the prior year, the hapless Browns have the top pick in the NFL draft.

The can’t miss No. 1 pick in the film is Bo Callahan, a fictional Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from UW–Madison, played by Josh Pence. Jennifer Garner also stars in the movie and Sam Elliott plays the role of the Wisconsin football coach.

A request came to Cindy Van Matre, UW–Madison’s trademark licensing director, through a video clearing service employed by the movie producers to find compelling in-game footage.

The video company, T3 Media Licensing, had zeroed in on footage from the 2007 UW game against Ohio State. It was a back-and-forth affair for most of the game, but the Badgers lost the game 38-17 when OSU surged ahead in the fourth quarter.

What caught the filmmakers’ attention about the game was the performance of the Badger quarterback Tyler Donovan, who was playing in his final season. He was sacked nine times by Ohio State defenders, but pulled himself off the turf over and over to complete some miraculous passes.

In the film, the Wisconsin quarterback is touted for his toughness and big-play ability. Donovan hopes that portrayal will boost the image of Badger quarterback play.

“It will give some really good exposure to UW. I really like to see that, especially at the quarterback position,” Donovan says.

The play shown in the movie trailer is spectacular. In the face of defensive pressure, Donovan delivers a 40-yard strike to tight end Travis Beckum, who makes a diving catch in the end zone for a touchdown. Donovan recalls the play vividly.

“It was actually a broken play, (tight end Travis Beckum) was working an out-and- up pattern,” Donovan says. “I held on as long as I could and he made a great catch.”

Permission to use footage from a college game in a commercial, television show or movie must be given by the institution, so T3 contacted Van Matre in mid-April of last year.

Before agreeing, Van Matre asked for and received a copy of the script. Upon review of the 18 pages that are relevant to UW, it contained scenes that played up the university’s “party-school image,” she says, and it did not portray the quarterback or coach in a positive way. In the early version, Callahan hosts a wild party and ends up running afoul of his coaches and the police.

After reviewing the script with University Relations and Athletics, “We told them we didn’t like that portrayal, that we’ve made many positive steps to change that image,” Van Matre says. “So we told them we’d pass.”

But the movie producers were persistent. Director Ivan Reitman, who has helmed such blockbusters as “Ghostbusters” and “Stripes,” made a personal plea for reconsideration, and assured that revisions would be made and the university would be shown in a positive light.  

“That’s when I found out how critical the game footage was to the movie,” Van Matre says. “The movie also had strong support from the NFL, the NCAA and Big Ten.”

With a script approved, the movie studio paid $2,500 for use of the footage, money that is split between the Athletics Department and the University’s Financial Aid Office. But having the university featured in a major film should pay more dividends, Van Matre said.

“I think everyone likes to see their university in a TV show or movie,” Van Matre says. “And it exposes the university to a lot of people who would not necessarily be familiar with us, either in the U.S. or internationally.”

Donovan, who now heads up the real estate department of an investment company out of Chicago, found out about his role in the film when a friend saw the trailer.

“It feels good. It’s kind of neat to be in a movie,” Donovan says.