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For each and every generation, there’s a television drama that tackles head-on the confusion and awkwardness inherent in being a teenager in high school. But NBC’s brilliant yet underrated Friday Night Lights manages to do it in a way America hasn’t seen in the past.

Indeed, Friday Night Lights is about football. But the game, and one small Texas town’s obsession with it, is merely a stage upon which an intricate web of relationships, insecurities, and dysfunctional friendships are formed. At the center of it all is Dillon Panther’s star quarterback, Jason Street (played by Scott Porter) who, after a tackle gone wrong, is paralyzed.

Though Street is injured in the first season, his continued presence is an integral part of the plot line. In one standout episode, Street begins to come to grips and learns about his new body, realizing that his dream of playing college football will never materialize. He doesn’t give up on the game entirely though and instead joins a wheelchair rugby league that provides an outlet for his competitive nature.  Murderball star Mark Zupan has made a cameo on Lights.

As the hunky young teenager goes from star player to navigating life in a wheelchair, the show devotes substantial airtime to exploring all of the complex layers involved in the transition. It’s a daring move and one we haven't seen yet on American television. What other program would allow a former quarterback, now a paraplegic, to be such a big part of so many episodes and scenes?

Street also becomes an assistant coach after graduating from high school. Throughout the show and during every stage of his growth presented, he is first a man and then a hero, whether on the football field or directing his teammates from the sidelines. He is always a solid part of his former team and of his town.

And Porter does a great job evoking the dizzying array of emotions associated with an injury like the one his character faces. The 28-year-old actor told the Orlando Sentinel he immersed himself in the world of quadriplegics to help him deliver an accurate, believable portrayal of the paralyzed former football star.

His efforts appear to be resonating with many disabled viewers. “A great majority of the fan letters I get are from people who have suffered either a career-ending injury or any injury that is paraplegic or quadriplegic in nature," Porter said in one interview. “They say it’s the most realistic view of a quadriplegic’s life in a long time. I just take it as such a huge compliment.”

Currently in the season, Porter’s character is shocked to find that a one-night-stand results in pregnancy.  Porter raises issues of sexuality in the lives of people with Spinal Cord Injuries. “The doctor said this was impossible,” his character says to the woman, trying to convince her to not go through with an abortion.  The coming episodes will tell us what she decides and depict what raising a baby as a person with a spinal cord injury is like.

Perhaps some of that reality is due to the fact that the Street character is based on a real person: San Antonio Madison student David Edwards was injured playing high school football in 2003. He was a defensive back going after a pass when he collided with another player. Edwards' neck was broken, and he was paralyzed as a result. He died of pneumonia at the age of 20 but remains the inspiration for the Lights character. 

Jason Street is merely one example of the many ways in which Friday Night Lights’ gritty, raw and heartbreaking writing and direction moves viewers. Perhaps that's why so many adore it while others won't even watch. Though the show continues to struggle with ratings, Friday Night Lights is still in the game.

Friday Night Lights airs on Fridays at 9/8 p.m. Central on NBC.