DVD RELEASE Football drama off the bench

The NFL had objected to the character depictions in ESPN's 'Playmakers.'
By TRACY L. SCOTT
WASHINGTON POST
ESPN's original series "Playmakers" scored a touchdown with viewers and critics but was cut from the TV roster after just one season.
Now, the 11-episode series is available on DVD for $49.95 from Buena Vista.
The three-disc collection follows the members of the fictional Cougars football team, who struggle to balance their chaotic personal lives with their demanding professional careers.
The team members include the archetypal promising newcomer, the passionate coach and the dedicated veteran.
However, the team also has a drug addict, an abusive husband, a closeted homosexual, a few violent homophobic members and several womanizers.
Image complaint
The show prompted an outcry from the NFL, which complained that the series contained too many negative images of professional athletes. Yet ESPN said those charges were not a factor in the decision to pull the plug on the show that Entertainment Weekly hailed as "the most powerful drama of the season."
More than a million viewers watched the show's controversial finale, which lost at least one major advertiser before it aired.
Omar Gooding, Jason Matthew Smith, Russell Hornsby and Chris Wiehl star in the series rated TV-MA, for mature audiences.