While not one of his more successful films from a box office standpoint, Charlton Heston recalled in his autobiography "In the Arena" that over the years a number of real life athletes who saw the film wrote to him praising his performance and the film, saying it perfectly captured exactly how it feels to be an athlete at the end of his prime and struggling to hold on.
The final shot in the film, of Cat Catlan down on the field, is reminiscent of a famous sports photograph, taken September 20, 1964, of New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle kneeling bareheaded and bloodied in the end zone after a vicious sack (tackle) by Pittsburgh Steeler defensive end John Baker. The sack knocked Tittle's helmet off, cracked his sternum, pulled his rib cage muscles, and caused a concussion, virtually ending his seventeen-year Hall of Fame career.
Ron Catlan wears #17, the same uniform number as the at that time QB of the Saints, Bill Kilmer. This was most likely done to match the number to action shot footage.
This was never given a release outside of the US, due to the lack of international interest in American Football.