1. football
   baseball
2. golf

"Brian's Song" looks like a football movie. But it turns out to be more about human relationships and hope.

1. Iowa
   Wake Forest
2. Ohio State

Brian plays for Wake Forest University. He eventually turns pro and earns a spot as a backup on the Chicago Bears.

1. quarterback
   running back
2. corner back

Brian was a running back -- a really good one. In 1964, he was a second-team All-American. The same year, he led the nation in rushing and scoring.

1. true
2. false

In spite of his sterling college career, Brian goes undrafted. He signs as a free agent and becomes a member of the Bears practice squad.

1. Buzz Kulik
   John Ford
2. Francis Ford Coppola

The movie was an unexpectedly big hit, especially for a TV movie. It was directed by Buzz Kulik, who directed dozens of TV shows and movies during his Hollywood career. He died in 1999.

1. James Caan
   Burt Reynolds
2. Tom Cruise

James Caan got the part of Brian. Caan, of course, became world famous in large part due to his role in 1972's "The Godfather."

1. he has a heart defect
   he has cancer
2. he has warts

Brian is working hard on making a name for himself. But he's diagnosed with embryonal cell carcinoma, a type of testicular cancer.

1. brain
   chest
2. fingers

The doctors catch the disease, but it's already spread to his chest. Brian is faced with an enormous health challenge that threatens his life.

1. Gale Sayers
   Frank Gifford
2. Walter Payton

Brian meets Gale Sayers, another running back who would go on to NFL history. Brian is white -- Sayers is black. And in the late 60s, race is still a very divisive issue.

1. true
2. false

The movie is based on many of the real experiences that Brian shared with Bears running back Gale Sayers. Sayers published an autobiography called "I Am Third," which provided many of the details for the movie.

1. Brian
   Gale
2. they are about the same

Gale is the first-round draft pick and Brian is the free agent. Gale is faster and stronger and on the field, it's obvious who the better player is.

1. Denzel Washington
   Morgan Freeman
2. Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams plays the ultra-talented Sayers. Williams later skyrocketed to fame thanks to his role as Lando Calrissian in "Star Wars."

1. he wanted too much money
   scouts knew he was sick
2. he lacked superior physical traits

Scouts saw Brian as too slow and too small to play NFL ball. So he relied on grit and persistence to make the Bears practice squad.

1. he decided to join the military
   he gave up football
2. he was humiliated

Brian was terribly embarrassed -- more than 400 college players were selected in that year's draft, and he wasn't one of them. But he was determined to make it to the pros as a free agent.

1. pizza
   nachos
2. chicken feet

Brian is a pizza fiend. Wherever he goes, he devours pies.

1. it basically disappeared
   it went straight to video
2. it went to theaters

The movie got such good ratings that ABC worked with Columbia Pictures to release "Brian's Song" in theaters all over the country. "Brian's Song" was a true 70s sensation.

1. it made average money
   it was a blockbuster
2. it was terrible

The movie's formula worked well on TV, but it didn't translate in theaters. It performed so badly at the box office that Columbia almost immediately yanked it from the big screen.

1. true
2. false

The men were teammates -- and roommates on road trips. They were the first black and white NFL players ever to share a room.

1. none at all
   just a little
2. actually, quite a lot

Sayers got most of the snaps. But in his second season, Brian earned more and more playing time, proving that he belonged on an NFL field.

1. Sayers abruptly quit football
   Sayers was arrested at a civil rights protest
2. Sayers was injured

In the ninth game of the season, Sayers injured his knee. Brian was thrust into the starting role.

1. he laughs at Gale
   he helps with Gale's rehab
2. he kicks him in the knee

Brian actively works to help Gale recover, going so far as taking a weight bench to Gale's house so that he can recuperate at home.

1. partial blindness
   persistent coughing
2. vomiting blood

Brian started coughing, and the cough wouldn't go away. He finally went in for X-rays and the doctors gave him the bad news. He had cancer, and it had spread to vital parts of his body.

1. scheduling conflicts
   he couldn't act at all
2. he broke his leg

Gale really wanted to play himself in the movie. But he was too busy with football training to participate.

1. Brian's father
   the head coach
2. the NFL publicity manager

Warden played the part of the great George Halas, the famed head coach of the Bears. Warden was nominated for two Academy Awards during his Hollywood tenure.

1. Brian was retiring
   Brian was going to keep playing
2. Brian would be dead in two weeks

The Bears announced that Brian was very sick. But they said that he intended to keep playing as long as he could.

1. 5
   21
2. 45

He scored just five touchdowns during his brief NFL career. But he left a much bigger personal legacy.

1. true
2. false

The real story was already incredibly dramatic, but the movie creators couldn't help but ramp up the drama. Some scenes are entirely fictional.

1. Brian actually lives
   Brian dies
2. Brian disappears in Cuba

In the end, Brian succumbs to cancer. But Gale and Brian's family want people to remember him for the way he lived, not the way he died.

1. 22
   26
2. 32

Brian had a shiny NFL career in front of him when he was diagnosed. Instead, he died in 1970 at the tender age of 26.

1. on BetaMax
   in 120 theaters
2. on TV

"Brian's Song" is a made-for-TV movie. It was initially broadcast on ABC in 1971.