The University of Minnesota's football team, the Golden Gophers, has revealed that a particular Breaking Bad scene influenced their defensive game this season. AMC's Breaking Bad first aired in January of 2008, spanning five highly successful seasons, which ended in September of 2013. It follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a high school science teacher who turns into a drug kingpin after he learns he has cancer. Fans slowly watch as Walter transforms from a sympathetic middle-aged family man into an unforgivable and evil antagonist. In the fandom, there is an ongoing debate about the exact moment Walter White truly turns evil.
Breaking Bad's popularity increased when it began airing on Netflix and has been one of the streaming services' most successful hits. The show has received universal acclaim and currently sits in third place on IMDb's list of highest-rated shows. Such acclaim saw the show nominated for many awards; it won 92, which includes two Golden Globes and twelve Primetime Emmy Awards. The show's immense popularity has made fans crave for more, resulting in a spin-off series, Better Call Saul, and a film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which was released six years after the show's finale.
In an article by InForum, the Minnesota Golden Gophers' head coach, P.J. Fleck, revealed that a certain Breaking Bad scene influenced their defensive game this season. He revealed it to be Walter White's "I am the one who knocks" scene, the moment where some fans believe he truly turned evil. The Gophers combined the famous phrase with the Rolling Stones' song "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" as the team's thematic goal for the season. Fleck and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi saying the team really benefited from the motivation. The team had an excellent defensive improvement from the previous season, preventing opposition from gaining more than 300 yards over the last seven games of the season.
The scene is truly a memorable one and shows why the Breaking Bad writers deserve all the praise and credit they have received. It shows a new side of Walter White, a completely changed man from the one fans were introduced to back in season 1. Walter White has become one of the most iconic TV characters of the 21st century, which is helped by his list of incredibly memorable quotes and scenes. It does also help to have the brilliance of Bryan Cranston delivering the lines perfectly, playing a completely opposite role to the one he had as Hal in Malcom in the Middle.
Breaking Bad has been an incredibly influential show to our current culture, with other successful shows like Netflix's Ozark being inspired by its success. But to have a college football team be inspired by one single scene shows why people call it one of the greatest shows of all time. In fact, the show nearly didn't get made, with Vince Gilligan talking about how networks weren't too keen on a drug kingpin show. Those networks truly missed out, as Breaking Bad continues to be talked about today, despite the show ending around eight years ago.
Source: InForum