Is 12 Mighty Orphans a true story?

Sports fiction can impact generations of people, just look at the ‘Mighty Ducks’ film. But what about those stories which are real, like ’12 Mighty Orphans’.

Released in 2021, the film based itself on a non-fiction book of the same name, which followed the trials and tribulations of the football team of a Texas orphanage.

It starred iconic actors like Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, and Luke Wilson and was an inspirational tale.

The Mighty Mites were a football team affiliated to a Fort Worth orphanage. During the Great Depression, they managed to go from playing without shoes or equipment to battling for the Texas State Championship.

’12 Mighty Orphans’ tells the story of that season and the work of Rusty Russell, a legendary coach. Whilst only a recent release as a film, the story continues to be told to this day and is a hugely impactful one.

What is 12 Mighty Orphans about?

Rusty Russell was a football coach who stunned his peers when he gave up a privileged position in a high school football program to take his talents to the Fort Worth orphanage.

An orphan himself, Russell was particularly interested in ensuring that children who had lost their parents didn’t fall through the cracks of society, especially the athletically gifted ones.

The film glamorizes certain aspects of the tale. But those who were present recall how the underweight and underfed orphans could never hope to match up with their rivals physically. So, they had to be coached in a unique way to make them a winning team.

12 Mighty Orphans details just how Russell developed strategies to help his players overcome opponents, which would then form the cornerstone of modern NFL tactics.

At its core, this is a story about unity. NFL players are brought together through draft picks and trades. Often, they can gel together in the pursuit of a championship, but the Mighty Mites were different.

They all had something in common. They had the same thing in common with their coach. They were all orphans. They knew the unique, irreparable pain that comes with losing a parent at an early age.

This bonded the group more than anything on the field ever could, and once they were given technical direction by a gifted coach, very little could stop them.

Is 12 Mighty Orphans accurate?

There are a lot of details in the film that have been criticized and labeled as either untrue or an exaggeration of reality.

As previously mentioned, in the film, Rusty Russell is depicted as an orphan, which cemented his bond with his players.

Alas, this was not true in reality. Russell grew up with his family on a farm. Some details in the film are true. Hardy Brown arrived at the orphanage having witnessed his father’s murder.

Coach Russell did transport his players to games in the back of a pickup truck owned by the Masonic Home for Orphans.

Despite suggestions to the contrary, the film’s hint that the team only had 12 players was indeed true to reality.

The film details how Russell utilized a wing formation, with the quarterback positioned directly behind the center. This is now commonplace in the NFL today, and the film accurately depicts this as an idea championed by Russell with the Mighty Mites.

12 Mighty Orphans tells a true story in a way that is relatable to a modern audience. The mistruths told within it are part of artistic license and help get across the theme of the movie - that a team can achieve things way beyond what their physical talent should allow.

That is the inspiring part. Something which sporting films continue to do so very well, especially when telling a true story, which 12 Mighty Orphans does.