GREENSBORO -- A downtrodden NFL team hires a college coach with no NFL experience. His first order of business is to hold an open tryout for local dreamers of all shapes and sizes with the hope of discovering a player who will bring the team together.

The coach finds just such a dreamer in the form of a high school substitute teacher who moonlights as a bartender.

Five times Dennis Franks has seen the movie "Invincible." Five times it has made him cry.

"You'd think I'd be used to it by now," said Franks, a Greensboro businessman who watched the rags-to-riches movie Tuesday with members of the Greensboro College football team at Carmike Theater. "I'll probably cry when I watch it the sixth time. For me, it's more than just a movie."

For Franks, reel life and real life are hard to separate in "Invincible," Disney's summer sleeper that recounts the story of Vince Papale.

Papale, a down-on-his-luck Philadelphia Eagles fan earns a roster spot with the team in 1976 and eventually helps lead the long-suffering franchise back to the playoffs. Franks and Papale were teammates for three years in Philadelphia and remain good friends today.

On Tuesday, Franks told the players that, while the movie told a story from 30 years ago, its message remains timeless.

Franks said the Eagles' franchise that went from losers to Super Bowl contenders in five years "was determined on how we picked ourselves up after we got knocked down. That hasn't changed today. It's still about getting up after you've been knocked down."

Franks, 53, is a member of Greensboro College's "12th Man Advisory Council," a group of former college and professional football players who live in the Triad and serve as mentors for the school's football team.

Franks left professional football for the business world where he's currently a vice president with Market America in Greensboro. The movie has made him something of a celebrity again given his friendship with Papale.

Papale said Tuesday that Franks' friendship made it possible for him to persevere in 1976 when so many veteran players wanted him to fail. "I'm not sure what might have happened without Dennis on my side," Papale said.

Franks has been basking in his new-found fame. "It's been a terrific opportunity for me to stop and reflect on what happened 30 years ago," he said. "I still get a tear in my eye these days about playing the game, the teamwork involved and the work ethic we had. You don't see that in today's players."

After Saturday's loss to Division II Mars Hill, several Pride players said they needed to see Papale's story and hear Franks' pep talk.

"He put it in great perspective for us," said Tylor Gladden, a senior linebacker for the Pride. "We may not have been around when all that stuff happened in the movie, but it's about the sport, not the people. We can still relate to the teamwork and what it takes to win."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or rbell@news-record.com