Actors are not athletes. Well, that’s partially true. But to enjoy a good sports movie, suspension of disbelief is a prerequisite.

Some overcommit and should head to wherever “Hard Knocks” is filming their next NFL training camp for a tryout. Others, well…don’t. (See this scene from “The Duff”).

Look, football is hard. Guys like Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts might make it look easy, but literally no one can do what they do — not even Tom Cruise. We don’t need professional skill-sets. Nobody’s clocking their 40-yard dash or measuring their hand size. We just want to, you know, buy it.

Some actors challenged with portraying the sport on the big screen have managed to pull it off with an ounce of authenticity, begging the question: Could they really play? Coming off as mildly convincing is the bar. These people clear it. (One rule: No real-life players. Otherwise, much different list.)

MORE: Best sports movies for every sport: Baseball, football, MMA, bowling…everything

Burt Reynolds, The Longest Yard (1974)

A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback (Burt Reynolds), now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on the guards. The original (and much better) 1974 version stars one of the biggest movie stars on the planet. Reynolds already had plenty of swagger that translates into the role of field general, regardless of the fact that he actually played college football for Florida State in the 1950s. He carries himself like a pro and can clearly throw the pigskin.

Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Another Hollywood A-lister under center, Beatty was a star football player at Washington-Lee High School and was apparently offered multiple scholarships to play in college, but he wisely chose acting. Still, he got to show off his athletic prowess in this delightful fantasy he codirected with Buck Henry (and co-wrote with Elaine May). He plays Joe Pendleton, a Los Angeles Rams quarterback on a mission to return to NFL glory after he’s accidentally taken away from his body by an angel before he was meant to die.

Sean Astin/cast, Rudy (1993)

“Rudy” works because it really gets football in a way so many films don’t. Director David Anspaugh and cinematographer Oliver Wood often film in slow motion to fully capture the grandeur he associates with the game. Even more specific is the focus they place on practice and all the blood, sweat and tears players and coaches pour into it, chiefly Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) whose injuries we can feel as he dips his leg into a cold bath. The footage mirrors the unparalleled brilliance of NFL Films, who cannot fake the game they document, merely slowing it down so that we mortals can appreciate it.

READ: 13 reasons why ‘Rudy’ is the best college football movie of all time

Omar Epps/cast, The Program (1993)

The man is a multisport athlete. Along with “Major League II” and “Love & Basketball,” Epps has proven himself on any surface with any ball. In this bleak look at the pitfalls student-athletes face in college, he plays freshman running back Darnell Jefferson working on his ball security and love life. But as usually, Epps looks the part, as do many of his teammates, played by Craig Sheffer, Andrew Bryniarski and especially Duane Davis as ferocious linebacker Alvin Mack.

Shawna Waldron, Little Giants (1994)

Becky O’Shea, better known as the Icebox. The best young football player by a mile in small town Urbana, the Icebox is denied a spot on the local pee-wee team (by her own uncle!) only because she’s a girl. But her dad recruits a bunch of rag-tag underdogs to take on the villainous pee-wee powerhouse Cowboys, and guess what happens. She actually misses the first half of the big game, to instead pursue cheerleading due to the pressure of boys’ expectations (kudos to “Little Giants” for the take on gender dynamics!), but she gets fed up, puts on a helmet and destroys everybody on the way to an improbable win.

Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry Maguire (1996)

We see very little of Gooding’s Rod Tidwell on the field — only at the end in a terrific game sequence where he nearly suffers a catastrophic injury — but the actor deservedly won an Oscar for capturing the essence of the prototypical ‘90s NFL wide receiver who feels underappreciated by everyone and pushes his agent to his limit, until he locks on that monster contract.

Adam Sandler, The Waterboy (1998)

After “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore” and his “Saturday Night Live” career, few knew the Sandman would make sense in a helmet and shoulder pads, much less obliterating quarterbacks as a college football team’s defensive beast. Repressed waterboy man-child Bobby Boucher channels his rage into tackling people for Henry Winkler’s hapless coach and the South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs, to your desired comedic effect. You can feel the brutal hits he unleashes.

Jamie Foxx/cast Any Given Sunday (1999)

Tempted to break our own rule to include pro players like Lawrence Taylor in Oliver Stone’s brutally honest look at the business of professional football (focusing on a fictional league), we’ll instead zero in on Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of third-string dual-threat QB Willie Beaman who gets a chance to shine after injuries take out the starter (Dennis Quaid) and his backup. His unpredictable but revolutionary style of play captures the league and fans by storm, while sometimes driving his head coach (Al Pacino) and teammates mad. Other stars passing the smell test: Quaid, LL Cool J and Bill Bellamy.

James Van Der Beek/cast, Varsity Blues (1999)

Few thought the star of “Dawson’s Creek” had the chops to go under center in this coming-of-age tale about the pressures high school football players face from their maniacal head coach, overbearing parents and adoring town of fans. As academically focused backup quarterback Jonathan “Mox” Moxley, Van Der Beek’s number is called when star QB Lance Harbor blows out his knee. Does he deserve the Heisman? No, but he and castmates like Paul Walker, Scott Caan and Eliel Swinton pull it off better than most did in the ‘90s.

Wood Harris/cast, Remember the Titans (2000)

Disney’s feel-good football flick starring Denzel Washington as a coach overseeing a high school team’s first season as a racially integrated unit has an array of young stars filling out the T. C. Williams roster including Donald Faison, Craig Kirkwood, Ethan Suplee, Kip Pardue and even Ryan Gosling. But Wood Harris (as Julius Campbell) and Ryan Hurst (as Gerry Bertier) make the cut as the most authentic players and the team’s captains who must learn to get along before they win any games.

Derek Luke/cast, Friday Night Lights (2004)

This film based on H. G. Bissinger’s popular non-fiction book follows a high school team in small-town Texas where football is religion. Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund and Jay Hernandez all look like real football players, but Derek Luke as talented running back James “Boobie” Miles belongs on the field, of course until his career is tragically cut short.

Nelly/cast, The Longest Yard (2005)

As barefoot running back Earl Megget, Nelly speeds across the screen while his co-stars Adam Sandler and pro wrestlers (many of them former players) Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg and Steve Austin wear the pads well, not to mention real-life Pro Football Hall of Fame member Michael Irvin. This remake of the 1974 sports movie classic doesn’t quite live up to the original, but it’s a good time.

Mark Wahlberg, Invincible (2006)

We knew the “Boogie Nights” and “The Departed” actor always kept in shape, but what would he look like on the gridiron if he suited up in pads, albeit quarterback pads to help him run faster? In this likable Disney underdog story, he plays Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who defied the odds to make the Philadelphia Eagles roster in 1976. Wahlberg pulls it off, even if many of his fast runs are seen in slow motion. Movie magic!

Quinton Aaron, The Blind Side (2009)

Nevermind the controversy surrounding the movie’s backstory, Aaron’s portrayal of real-life offensive lineman Michael Oher deserves a lot of credit once he hits the high school football field. The film, which was a box office smash hit nominated for multiple Oscars including best picture, tells the story of Oher, who overcomes an impoverished upbringing to find success as a college and NFL player with the help of a local family. Standing 6-foot-8-inches, Aaron could probably help some teams today.

Michael B. Jordan/cast, Friday Night Lights (2009-11)

OK, we’ll include one TV show, arguably the best sports series in the medium’s history. A television adaptation of the H.G. Bissinger book, this features an impressive array of young actors who strive for athletic authenticity including Taylor Kitsch, Scott Porter, Zach Gilford, Gaius Charles and Matt Lauria — of course all under the tutelage of “kingmaker” head coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler). But the emergence of Michael B. Jordan as East Dillion High School quarterback Vince Howard stands tall.