Even in our times, dominated by mean-spirited, sensationalist media, it is difficult to find a story about a professional athlete falling from grace in such a spectacular way as that of the protagonist of *The Longest Yard*, the 1974 action black comedy directed by Robert Aldrich. For Paul Crewe (played by Burt Reynolds), an American football player, life was good. He had it all – the title of the league’s best play…More