Emmerich would continue to turn out a solid assortment of supporting turns in films including "Tumbleweeds" (1999), "Crazy in Alabama" (1999), "Frequency" (2000), "Windtalkers" (2002) and "Beyond Borders" (2003) before being cast by his "Tumbleweeds" director Gavin O'Connor as Craig Patrick, the kind-hearted assistant coach to Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) in "Miracle" (2004), the true-life Cinderella sports story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Emmerich's performance made for an important counterpoint to Russell's driven, uncompromising Burns and added an important balance of compassion among the adults in the film.