In the film version of Tennessee Williams' play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Richard Brooks and released in 1958, the ex-football player in question is named Brick Pollitt, played by Paul Newman. He and his wife, Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor), are visiting Brick's family home in Mississippi for the 65th birthday party of his father, Big Daddy (Burl Ives), a wealthy cotton plantation owner.
Brick is in a state of emotional paralysis due to several factors: his career-ending injury, his guilt over his best friend Skipper's death, and his growing alcoholism. Maggie, meanwhile, is desperate for his love and attention, but he rebuffs her advances and drinks himself into a stupor.
The tension is compounded by the fact that Big Daddy and his wife, Big Mama (Judith Anderson), are at odds over the fate of their estate. Big Daddy has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, but is unaware of the severity of his condition. His two other sons, Gooper (Jack Carson) and Mae (Madeleine Sherwood), are eager to inherit his wealth and take control of the estate.
As Brick and Big Daddy spend time together, they confront their fraught relationship and some painful truths. Brick reveals that he and Skipper had a complex, possibly romantic, relationship, and that Skipper's confession of love to him was what prompted his suicide. Big Daddy confronts his own mortality and the shallowness of his relationships with his sons.
In the climactic scene, Brick confronts his wife about her role in Skipper's death and accuses her of being just like the other Pollitts, consumed by greed and dishonesty. Maggie reveals that she is pregnant, but Brick tells her he doesn't care and leaves her alone in their bedroom.
The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Actor (Ives) and Best Supporting Actress (Anderson). It was controversial at the time for its subtext about homosexuality and alcoholism, but has since been recognized as a classic of 1950s cinema.