While he is best known for his Oscar-winning movie, Good Will Hunting, Hollywood icon Matt Damon was in a football movie, School Ties, over 30 years ago. During an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce's New Heights, Damon reflected on a clip from the movie.
Right after Jason brought up the movie, Damon began laughing and was all smiles. He was asked to “break down” the tape, which Damon was more than eager to do. Jason and Travis appeared to be big fans of School Ties, with the latter dubbing the scene they broke down “legendary.”
Since this is a sports podcast, we had to have Matt Damon break down his game tape pic.twitter.com/e9gcmKhCfV
— New Heights (@newheightshow) January 8, 2026
He immediately pointed out what his co-star, Brendan Fraser, did to him during the play. Damon was Fraser's lead blocker in the movie, and the much more physically imposing Fraser threw Damon into a block.
“I really wanted to score the touchdown, but he's the good player, so guess what, Matt?” Damon reflected, laughing while watching the clip. “Not only could I not do the cut block, [but] he actually had to throw me into the right position.”
What was Matt Damon's football movie about?
School Ties follows a standout high school football player, played by Fraser, who's offered an athletic scholarship at a prep school. Damon plays a fellow football player. Chris O'Donnell, Andrew Lowery, and Randall Batinkoff also star in it.
This was one of Damon's earliest roles before his breakthrough with Good Will Hunting. Damon's first movie role was in Mystic Pizza. He'd follow that up with roles in The Good Mother and Field of Dreams before starring in School Ties.
In 1997, Damon would have his breakthrough. He'd start the year by starring in Chasing Amy, and later in the year, Damon co-wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting with Ben Affleck. The movie earned them an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Since then, Damon has starred in the Bourne franchise, Saving Private Ryan, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Departed, The Martian, Interstellar, and Oppenheimer. He will once again collaborate with Christopher Nolan, starring in his adaptation of The Odyssey, which will come out on July 17, 2026.
