Saving Grace creator Nancy Miller had always wanted to develop a series about a Catholic protagonist living in Oklahoma, where she grew up. Set in Oklahoma City, Saving Grace accomplishes much of its authenticity by having most of its characters view Oklahoma Sooners football as a religious experience and football games as high holy days for the throngs of the faithful. Since I’ve known real Oklahoma fans, their fanaticism on the TV show is spot on.
The show is filled with the lore that is Sooners football and Grace and her squad takes it seriously, in the same way that fans of Nebraska and Texas do. Football becomes its own character in the series and a constant topic of conversation. Every member of the squad, with the exception of Butch, display Sooners football memorabilia on their desks or in their offices. There’s constant chatter about who’s going to play, who’s got a shot at the Heisman Trophy, and whether another national championship is on the horizon.
Having gone to the University of Texas to play football as quarterback, Butch is viewed as a traitor, and the teasing he endures isn’t always good-natured. Even Butch’s own mother was disappointed in her son’s choice of schools, maintaining that she has no idea what went wrong and led her son astray. Not about to be intimidated, Butch displays Long-horns memorabilia on his desk. He’s brave enough to also have a stuffed animal that represents “Bevo,” the University of Texas mascot, but the animal disappears on a regular basis during the series.
Tickets on the 50-yard line, or better yet season tickets, are coveted like gold; and Grace’s teenage nephew, Clay desperately wants to attend the University of Oklahoma and play on the fabled football team. There’s always talk about who’s got the better view for a game.
In season two, former Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer appears as himself, as it turns out he and Grace have something in common. Connie, the name of Grace’s Porsche, was at one time owned by Switzer, and he comes to the Oklahoma City PD to take the car out for a spin. There is an interesting dynamic as most of the squad treats Switzer like a deity. Upon meeting Switzer, Grace genuflects and crosses herself as if she were having an audience with the Pope. When Butch comes face-to-face with the coach, they lock eyes in a silent stare-down, and it’s clear Butch will never be able to overcome the fact that he chose to wear the uniform of a Texas Longhorn rather than an Oklahoma Sooner.
In the final season, Grace is frantically searching for a young girl named Neely. They share the same “last chance angel” in the form of Earl, who will help them both find redemption, the premise upon which Saving Grace is built. After many false starts, when Grace and Neely finally do meet, do they talk about salvation and redeeming one’s soul? No. They talk about the upcoming of Sooners football season, like all passionate fans. For Earl, this conversation is a bit confusing, but Grace tells him it makes perfect sense to her as Oklahoma football is in her blood.
Grace may have shunned the Catholic Church; but like a lot of people, she worships at the altar that is football. And in Oklahoma that altar is massive with a history that includes national championships and Heisman trophy winners. Saving Grace may be about one woman’s last chance to redeem herself spiritually, but it’s also very much about the location and the culture there. Football is as much a part of Saving Grace as is the Oklahoma City bombing at the Murrah building. Both have helped to mold Grace and her peers for better or worse.
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