TV celebs say Romney 'usurped' 'Friday Night Lights's' motto

A television actress and producer are taking Mitt Romney to task for borrowing a phrase from a popular show and using it along the campaign trail.

The saying that has former “Friday Night Lights” star Connie Britton and executive producer Sarah Aubrey up in arms in a Sunday op-ed in USA Today is “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose,” a mantra that would be repeated by the fictional high school football coach to inspire players ahead of a game in the NBC sports drama, which ended its run last year.

The GOP presidential candidate said during an Oct. 9 speech, “This is something that we share in this country; men and women of clear eyes, full hearts, and America can’t lose.”

In their opinion piece, Britton — who now stars in the ABC country music drama “Nashville” — and Aubrey call it “surprising” that the “Friday Night Lights” term has been “usurped and co-opted by Mitt Romney and his campaign for their gain.”

The pair writes, “In fact, it is President Obama who has shown his values to be more closely aligned with those represented by the phrase.” The letter goes on to praise Obama’s healthcare plan while bashing Romney’s position on Planned Parenthood funding and women’s issues.

“So as women, let's take ‘Clear Eyes, Full Hearts’ back and use it as it was always intended — as a motivator for progress, power, and greatness,” Britton and Aubrey say in their writing.

While a Romney spokesman did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the op-ed, the flap didn’t stop the former Massachusetts governor from making mention of the show again on Monday.

“There was a fictional football team on T.V. a few years ago called ‘Friday Night Lights,’ and at the end of the show, the athletes, as they would go off on the playing field, [they would] then attach a sign that said, ‘Clear eyes, full hearts, cannot lose.’ I am convinced that on Nov. 6 the people of Ohio, with their clear eyes and full hearts, will make sure that America cannot lose,” Romney said.

The White House hopeful has expressed a love of a different TV show in interviews. He and his wife, Ann, agreed that their favorite television series is the hit comedy “Modern Family,” on ABC.

Justin Sink contributed to this report.