While we know the opponents for each team heading into the next season before the official NFL schedule release, knowing the particular dates allows fans to plan their trips and, let's be honest, to see a battle of the social media/marketing teams of all 30 squads.
The Los Angeles Chargers are well regarded as one of the better social teams, and they created an anime that fans loved.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video an anime AGAIN?
yes yes yesyes
yesyes yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes
yes yesyes yes yes
yes yesye yes yes
yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/z7qyNGyWHp— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 12, 2023
The Carolina Panthers released a 5+ minute video of a mocked-up behind-the-scenes grand production.
That's showbiz baby ? pic.twitter.com/ddga84X7BG
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) May 12, 2023
In a way, this is the social media squads' Super Bowl, and only one can be the winner.
There's one team that took the cake, doing something far less intense budget-wise and much more straightforward—walk up to fans, display the logos of their opponents, and allow them to, well, attempt to name the team associated with each.
As you'd expect, every fan got every team correct! Oh, wait, no, that's not true, but the results are hysterical. Behold, the hilarious Tennessee Titans schedule release video that has almost 20 million views and counting.
The Best Moments of the Titans Schedule Release Video
We asked people on Broadway to help us with our 2023 schedule release. ?
?: 2023 Schedule Release on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/31LsUUDn3O
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) May 12, 2023
After stepping out onto the streets of Broadway, as you'll see in the video, the Titans social/marketing team brought a video recording device (based on the minimalism, we wouldn't be shocked if it was an iPhone), a mini microphone, and the glowing personalities of those passing by.
OK, now that you've watched it, what are your favorites?
Some of our favorites include:
- The younger gentleman wearing a Grateful Dead shirt saying, "Oh, that's just the football logo," before it cuts to the Cleveland Browns, which is simply a helmet.
- The Boston Bobcats, also known as the Cincinnati Bengals.
- A group of four women, two wearing cowboy hats and emphatically suggesting the Dallas Cowboys—cuts to the Indianapolis Colts.
- The Baltimore Orioles, also known as the Baltimore Ravens. Hey, at least they knew the city!
- The Red Stallions, also known as the Atlanta Falcons. This one is genuinely perplexing. Stallions are typically associated with horses, and in no way is the Falcons logo reminiscent of a horse. A true laugh-out-loud moment.
- "49ers 69ers Stars?" Also known as the Pittsburgh Steelers. We'll let you arrive at your own conclusions about why that warrants at least a chuckle.
- The Pirates from the Islands of the Caribbean. What makes this one so funny is the woman is moving and using her hands to help conjure an injection of NFL knowledge. She starts with the "Pirates"—OK, close enough—before thinking, thinking, thinking, pausing, and then coming out with "from the Islands of the Caribbean." It's hilarious to imagine a team based in the Caribbean Islands flying up to Buffalo, New York, for example, to play a game.
- Chester Cheeto, also known as the Jacksonville Jaguars. Honestly? Fair.
- North Carolina Tigers, also known as the Carolina Panthers. This one prompted me to say, out loud, "HOW MANY BLACK TIGERS HAVE YOU SEEN?!
- "Actually Does Not Exist," also known as the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jeez. The Jaguars were dubbed Chester Cheeto and not existing. Rough day on Broadway for the defending AFC South champs.
OK, OK, you get the point; we're starting to list every response because they're all golden. The video ends, of course, with everyone getting the Tennessee Titans correct. Certainly not staged at all!
As mentioned, though, some NFL teams took these responses personally.
How NFL Teams Responded
Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
At the time of this writing, four teams have acknowledged this video.
The Browns tweeted a screenshot of the video and said, "tbh, we're good with this @Titans."
tbh we?re good with this @Titans pic.twitter.com/dXqzU8gHfD
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) May 12, 2023
The Panthers also tweeted a screenshot posing the question, "What does a North Carolina Tiger even look like" with a "thinking" emoji. They also asked their followers to draw one in the responses.
What does a North Carolina Tiger even look like ?
Someone draw it for us ??? pic.twitter.com/F5VAF0lPl0
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) May 12, 2023
Of the fan responses, we saw screenshots of Joe Exotic, but there was also this epic drawing that prompted us to hope for the Panthers actually to become the North Carolina Tigers.
— Michael Rimmer (@avl_mike) May 12, 2023
The Colts changed their Twitter name to "Not the Cowboys." This seems to be a common mistake made by casual/non-NFL fans. And finally, the Falcons changed their name to "Red Stallions" and changed their bio to "rawr."
This just goes to show you that you don't need a multi-million dollar budget to create compelling, engaging, and funny content. Well done, Titans.
