The Simpsons has featured some of the best NFL star cameos in recent history, here are our top 5 appearances in the popular cartoon.
NFL stars have had several TV and movie cameos over the years, including The Simpsons. NFL cameos are a terrific method for retired athletes to supplement their income or boost their brand and reputation. It’s also a lot of fun for everyone.
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Sports celebrities have had their fair share of television and movie cameos over the years, including NFL personalities. NFL cameos are a great way for athletes to make additional income in their retirement or advance their brand and popularity during their careers. It’s also just a lot of fun for all those involved.
In this column, we rundown some of the best NFL cameos in the highly popular TV series, The Simpsons. From Tom Brady to the Manning brothers and the legendary Joe Namath, there have been quite a few NFL starlets to feature on the show for a laugh and to entertain those millions of fans that have religiously followed this popular culture show for over two decades.
If you follow NFL football games today, you’ll certainly recognise some of the biggest stars listed below.
5. Eli and Peyton Manning on the Simpsons
Eli Manning and Peyton Manning were joined by their brother Cooper for a guest voice appearance (playing themselves) on an episode of The Simpsons, O Brother, Where Bart Thou? Awwww.
The plot involves The Simpsons being stuck at home during a blizzard. The weather is too precarious to play outside and the power goes out. So, Bart joins in a pretend fashion show with his sister Lisa and Maggie. However, he finds himself quietly wishing he had a brother instead.
That night, Bart has a series of dreams about being in a park and playing with a slew of famous brothers: the Smothers Brothers, the Marx Brothers, the Blues Brothers, the Smith Brothers, the Wright Brothers, the Mario Brothers and the Manning Brothers.
With the Mannings dream sequence, the brothers are playing touch football. At one point, while playing ‘Keep away from Cooper’, Eli and Peyton start taunting him and calling him ‘Squirt.’
4. Joe Namath
One of the funniest Simpson episodes was Season 9, episode 6, Bart Star, featuring an NFL cameo. Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath makes an appearance as pee-wee football comes to Springfield. The former NY Jets star quarterback of the 70s plays himself.
The plot involves Bart trying to become a quarterback for his pee-wee football team, which his dad Homer Simpson is coaching. Homer promotes Bart to star player despite his glaringly obvious lack of talent. At one point, Joe Namath happens to saunter into the Simpsons’ backyard when his car breakdowns nearby. He gets chatting to Bart and tells him there’s a secret to becoming a quarterback…. but his car is fixed before he can reveal the secret to Bart.
3. Tom Brady
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has been referenced on the Simpsons in a number of episodes, but he only once made a cameo appearance as himself. TB12’s cameo came in the episode “Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass.”
Brady and a slew of celebrity athletes – Lebron James, Yao Ming, Michelle Kwan, and Warren Sapp – seek Homer out for his superior dancing skills in preparation for a Super Bowl halftime show.
2. Matt Leinart
Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback Matt Leinart was a huge fan of The Simpsons show. He apparently asked to be on the show years before he eventually did make his guest appearance. Leinart appeared on the episode, Dad Behaviour, in which Home Simpson gets trapped inside a cabinet he’s assembling from a flat-pack.
To help him escape, Barney recommends he use an app called “Chore Monkey” which assigns contractors to help with menial tasks. Homer is quickly taken by the app and starts using it for a number of tasks. At one point, Homer turns to the app to hire a substitute father figure to spend time with Bart, but it’s not long before he starts feeling jealous of the easy rapport between Bart and the Chore Monkey played by Matt Leinart.
1. Denver Broncos
In The Simpson episode, You Only Move Twice, Homer shares his wish to own America’s favourite football team, the Dallas Cowboys. However, he ends up owning the Denver Broncos instead. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a bona fide NFL cameo. None of the Denver Broncos players at the time made a guest appearance, but it was such a fantastic punchline that it felt right to cap on this note.
The plot involves The Simpsons moving to a new town called Cypress Creek after Homer is offered a position at a nuclear plant run by an evil genius bent on world domination. By the end of the episode, Homers boss has seized control of the East coast and not only buys Homer the Denver Broncos but ships them to his doorstep. Homer is disappointed because he’d wanted the Dallas Cowboys.