Ron Lester gave us the heart and soul of 'Varsity Blues'
Ron Lesters movie career was defined by his role as Billy Bob in Varsity Blues.
Thats how Lester, who died Friday at age 45, will be remembered by most people. He played the lovable, overweight offensive lineman in the MTV Films production that depicted high-school football craze in West Texas.
Lester dealt with those weight problems in real life. The New York Daily News reported at one point that he was more than 500 pounds, though he had gastric bypass surgery in 2001 and lost 350 pounds.
Lester also touched a lot of people in that role, which was apparent on social media on Saturday morning. Thats how hell be remembered, and theres more to that than you think.
I saw Varsity Blues when it came out in 1999, and Ive probably watched it more than 100 times since. I know every scene (too many to count) and every one-liner (I think its a pig). This also is the movie I associate with Paul Walker, who died in 2013. Whether you played high school football in Texas or in Central Ohio, you saw this movie, and it did the trick.
The message while sensationalized still hit home.
Theres a lot of pressure to play high school football, and if you can handle that pressure, its a hell of a lot of fun. Billy Bob wasnt the star of the movie, but he was the most-important character by far, especially when you look back at that movie now.
Its Billy Bob who is 100 percent devoted to the team. Its Billy Bob who is dangerously-overweight. Its Billy Bob who is pressured to play with a concussion by head coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight). Its Billy Bob who is nearly driven to suicide because he blames himself for somebody else getting hurt.
Its been almost 20 years, but those are themes that are dangers to the game of football at the high school level and beyond. Concussions and the psychological effects of playing football have come into focus more than ever in the last few years. Those are the things that threaten the games long-time future.
High school football has changed, too. Its bigger than ever. Theres a $62.8 million football stadium in McKinney, Texas, now. Recruiting is covered just as much, if not more, than college football. Picture the social media presence in a Varsity Blues remake. That movie would be so much worse.
Varsity Blues was the perfect movie at that time. Its not as good as Friday Night Lights, but it didnt have to be. It was fun. If theres one lasting image of Lester as Billy Bob, its as the hero. Billy Bob scores the winning-touchdown in the final game, and thats a scene youll see pop up quite a bit today.
Thats the reason most of us choose to play football in the first place. We all want to score the game-winning touchdown. Lester did that as Billy Bob, and thats something hell be remembered by a generation who still loves that movie. Im not the only one who has seen it 100 times.
Of course, at the end, Jonathon "Mox" Moxon, played by James Van Der Beek, runs down the aftermath for all the important cast, and he says, Billy Bob cried because he's a bit of a crier.
Today, we can return the favor and cry for Lester for a while. :cray:
