The Los Angeles Chargers have chosen to begin its announcement of its NFL schedule in the most incredible way: Putting a bunch of other teams’ fans in a swimming pool and removing the ladder — in The Sims 2, of course.
You may remember the Chargers’ schedule release video from last year, when the social media team made the schedule into an anime, complete with references to One Piece, Naruto, and Attack on Titan. Largely, schedule release videos have been extremely boring — it’s literally just the 17-game schedule for the upcoming season, put into video format. NFL teams are trying to inject pop culture into the mix, like when the Detroit Lions put their schedule in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and schedule release season is turning into a meme war. The Chargers are one team that routinely excels, and the Sims 2 video makes this year no different.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video in the sims?yes yes yesyesyesyes yes yes yesyes yes yes yes yesyes yesyes yes yesyes yesye yes yesyes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/MXzfAPyhe8
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 16, 2024
There are so many incredible Easter eggs throughout the whole video. It’s got Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce; New York Jets quarterback and famed conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers recoiling from a cellphone tower; Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in the kitchen following a misogynistic, homophobic commencement speech; and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens watching himself getting drafted (also featuring the box of stolen Pittsburgh Penguins Jaromir Jágr bobbleheads). That’s literally not even the half of it, so you’re going to want to watch and analyze for yourself.
It’s the clear frontrunner for release videos this year, but several other NFL teams had fun referencing pop culture. The Atlanta Falcons turned their schedule release video into ATL Streets Vol. ’24, a play on NFL Street from 2004. The Jacksonville Jaguars went with a reference to X-Men ’97, while the Seattle Seahawks did a fun comic book style announcement.
But has anyone lived up to the Chargers social media team’s schedule release legacy? My guess is no.
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