INCREDIBLE START FOR `INVINCIBLE'.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH MEDIA

If it was a series of fortunate events that allowed Vince Papale to walk on to the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles' roster, then call it definitely a fortunate alignment of the stars that allowed a movie version of his life to be put together almost as fast as he ran that 40-yard dash during Dick Vermeil's open tryout once upon a time.

And to think, all it took was a four-minute piece that NFL Films did for ESPN four years ago about Papale's Cinderella story that would ignite the making the Disney feature-length movie ``Invincible,'' which opens in theatres today.

The flash point was Nov. 25, 2002, where the Eagles were in San Francisco for an ABC ``Monday Night Football'' game.

Papale didn't know it then, but his first ally became NFL Films producer Pete DeStefano, himself a South Philadelphia native of Italian descent who knew something about the story despite the fact he was only 6 when it happened. DeStefano, who had worked on the Eagles season highlight packages, was brainstorming a piece that ESPN could use on the ``Distant Replay'' segment of its ``Monday Night Countdown'' show that night when he hit upon the 25th anniversary of the movie ``Rocky.'' Papale's out-of-nowhere tryout with the Eagles happened the same year that ``Rocky'' emerged as the 1976 Academy Award's best-picture winner, and two paralleled each other perfectly.

DeStafano had no trouble tracking down Papale, who lived just 10 minutes away from the NFL Films offices in New Jersey. But after interviewing Papale for two hours, DeStefano was both pleased and puzzled.

``I remember as he's telling me this story of his life, I was thinking, `This is unbelieveable. How can it do it justice in just a four-minute piece?' said DeStefano. ``That was ESPN's requirement. But as he was giving me all these details, I kept thinking, `I want to dig my claws into this one.'''

The piece aired on that Monday night, and almost immediately, Papale's phone was ringing. Hollywood types were interested in buying his life story that, until then, no one had shown much interest. One of the first to call was the agent of actor Ryan Phillippe, who said he not only wanted to do the script and produce the movie but play the role of Papale.

That's when Ken Mok stepped in.

Mok, a Westwood-based executive producer for 10x10 Entertainment that's more in tune with cranking out reality TV shows (``Making of the Band'' for MTV and ``America's Next Top Model'' for UPN), said he didn't see the ESPN clip that night. Instead, he stumbled upon the streaming video of it when he was surfing around on NFL.com.

``It had original footage of Papale running this 4.5 40- yard dash at the open tryout in these beat-up sneakers,'' Mok said. ``I couldn't believe no one had made a movie about this.''

Mok called information and surprisingly found Papale's number. He made a quick pitch to give Papale something to consider.

At that time, Mok was doing a project with Victor Constantino, a budding producer who helped develop ``Disney's The Kid'' and, eventually, ``National Treasure.'' Mok forwarded Constantino the NFL Films clip on Papale to get his reaction.

``I figured it was probably one of those things where you watch and call back right away to say, `No thank you; not for us,''' said Constantino. ``Instead, within 90 seconds of watching that tape, I knew it was a movie. It was the quintessential sports story about a guy overcoming the most insurmountable odds.''

Constantino, the the NFL Films tape that DeStefano copied for them, pitched the Papale idea to a few production companies, but couldn't find a taker. He knew he'd eventually need a script, and turned to relatively unknown Brad Gann to consider it.

``I gave him a three-minute pitch, and he said, `Dude, you gotta let me write it,''' Constantino said. ``Brad wrote it on spec in two months (finishing it in Oct., 2004).''

Gann's agent, meanwhile, then had the wild idea of pitching producers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, the heads of Mayhem Pictures who had just done two hit movies for Disney -- ``Miracle'' and ``The Rookie.'' Turned out, those were Papale's two favorite flicks and would help seal the deal.

Ciardi, a starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers in the late `80s, and Gray bought the script during an auction and made the connection with Disney - which just happens to be the parent company of ESPN.

By January, 2005, ``Invincible'' found a director, Ericson Cole, known more as a cinematographer. Three months later, the movie was in pre-production and had Mark Walhberg cast as Papale. By July, they were in Philly shooting scenes.

``What makes me happiest is how happy (Papale) is about it,'' said the 34-year-old Constantino, who has an executive producer credit on ``Invincible'' and landed an executive job with Mayhem Entertainment for his efforts. ``When you're telling someone's story, you don't want just their approval, but also their pride in it.''

Tonight, when ESPN televises the Eagles-Steelers exhibition game in Philadelphia with its new ``Monday Night Football'' crew, Papale's story will almost have come full media circle.

ESPN's ``Monday Night Countdown'' will have another interview with Papale. Vermeil will also be present -- he's doing a rehearsal broadcast with Brad Nessler and Ron Jaworski (Papale's teammate with the Eagles and interviewed in that original ``Distant Replay'' piece) because that threesome will broadcast the San Diego-Oakland opener during the ESPN ``Monday Night Football'' doubleheader on Sept.11.

On the back end, DeStefano also got something out of this, too. He is listed in the ``Invincible'' credits as ``Eagles Fan #3'' -- hardly a stretch -- and he just finished doing what he wanted to do in the first place: an hour-long version of that original four-minute piece, which will be a feature on the movie's eventual DVD release.

The whole Hollywood whirlwind process continues to amaze Papale.

``I guess everything kind of fell through the cracks - out of sight, out of mind, and people forget,'' Papale said about why it took so long to have his life on the silver screen. ``However it happened, I'm glad it's finally come out. It's a much better story 30 years later.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Mark Walhberg, right, takes most of the hits in the role of Vince Papale, left, in ``Invincible.''

Walt Disney Studios 

Box:

(1) WHAT SMOKES

(2) WHAT CHOKES