Mike Flynt Biopic, "The Senior", In Movie Theatres On Friday

Mike Flynt had a promising career as a college football player. In 1965, he was on the first state championship team at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. The high school that has since become known for being featured on the television show, "Friday Night Lights". And in his junior year at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, he was an all-conference linebacker, team captain, and leading tackler. However, his senior year in college, his proclivity for fighting got out of hand. And in 1971, he was expelled for getting into a fist fight with a freshman teammate. Leading to Mike Flynt not getting to finish his college football career.

While Mike Flynt went on to have a successful career as a strength and conditioning coach, at a college reunion he confided to a former college roommate that not finishing out his senior year was the biggest regret of his life. His roommate told him to go ahead and try out for the college football team again. Mike Flynt took him at his word. Leading to him selling his house in Franklin, Tennessee and moving back to Alpine, Texas to try out for his old alma mater. By that time, Flynt was eight years older than the coach of the team.

Nevertheless, at age 59, Mike Flynt tried out for the college football team as a walk-on where the other players mistook him for a coach trying to build their morale. After all, he was a bald-headed old man with his youngest son starting his freshman year at the University of Tennessee. When he explained that he was actually trying out for the team, the other college football players naturally laughed and figured he must be taking steroids to be getting banged up on the field like he was.

However, in his college football debut on October 13th, 2007, Mike Flynt became the second oldest college football player ever at that time as he took to the field for his alma mater. Now, his comeback story is the focus of the feature film, "The Senior" that is being released in movie theaters this Friday. With the running time for the film being an hour and thirty-nine minutes and the fixing-past-mistakes themed film being rated PG.

Luisa Reyes is a Tuscaloosa attorney, piano instructor, and vocalist.

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