All 32 NFL teams revealed schedules for the 2024 season last night, and there were some great ones. There's the Chicago Bears' teen movie-themed reveal, the New England Patriots' Good Will Hunting inspiration, the Jacksonville Jaguars' homage to the intro for X-Men '97, and the Minnesota Vikings parodying a tech keynote, in addition to various other pop culture-inspired reveals.
But, arguably, the team with the best schedule reveal this year was the Los Angeles Chargers, which got creative by announcing their 2024 opponents through The Sims.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video in the sims?
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 16, 2024
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yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/MXzfAPyhe8
The Chargers posted a nearly four-minute video last night on social media. It starts with a group of Sims wearing jerseys from every team the Chargers will face this season before an unseen figure is shown removing the ladder, an act that is familiar to plenty of diabolical Sims players.
From then on, the Chargers announce which teams they'll play for the 2024 regular season, presenting many jokes, memes, pop culture references, and a few jabs at several individuals and teams. Some are more upfront and in your face, while others linger in the background. While the Sims gimmick is reason enough to watch, there are so many references that it encourages multiple viewings.
Here are a few I personally found hilarious:
- Chargers' Week 4 game versus the Chiefs shows a snippet of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce recording an episode of his podcast before he skedaddles with his girlfriend Taylor Swift on her private jet.
- In Week 8, the Chargers face the New Orleans Saints, showing a Falcons fan picking up a voodoo doll before seeing four prompts appear, mentioning moments in the Saints franchise history, most infamously Bountygate.
- On Thanksgiving Day, the Chargers' Week 12 opponent is the Baltimore Ravens. The scene shows a young Jim and John Harbaugh, who are the head coaches of the Chargers and Ravens, respectively, playing in a shared room before it fast-forwards to older versions of both in a pillow fight.
- In the second to the final week of the regular season, the Chargers will face the New England Patriots; it depicts a retirement home of many of the Patriot's best players from the team's historic sports dynasty, such as Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, before a pop-up appears saying "Your dynasty has ended, but the town lives on. There's no reason to let this house stay empty. Would you like to restart?"
- It also features a shot of Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who can be seen cooking and cleaning in a kitchen - no doubt a knock on Butker's controversial comments in a recent commencement address.
The Chargers never expliclty say which Sims game they're using, but internal discussions between me and my fellow Simmers and colleagues Reb Valentine and Alex Stedman deduce that the Chargers likely back to the Sims 2 for their reveal. A little vintage, but we're not complaining.
This isn't the first time an NFL team used a video game to reveal its schedule. In 2020, the Detroit Lions used Animal Crossing: New Horizons to unveil its schedule. But The Chargers usually get pretty creative, as the past two years, the organization used anime-themed reveals to announce its opponents for that respective season.
You can see some of our other favorite pop culture-inspired NFL reveals below.
The season moves pretty fast.
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 16, 2024
If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. pic.twitter.com/MpXMPEcTD6
Do you like schedules? pic.twitter.com/xxNTeCxFvv
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) May 16, 2024
To Me, My Jaguars! ?@Dream_Finders | #DUUUVAL
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) May 16, 2024
The next generation of #Vikings schedules is here!https://t.co/UeiFxRs60a pic.twitter.com/RTpkaEmlLF
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 16, 2024
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
