NFL teams called on WWE Superstars The Miz and Seth Rollins to help reveal their 2023 schedules.
It’s no secret that Rollins is a big fan of the Chicago Bears, while The Miz is a Cleveland Browns superfan. Both Superstars often attend games, tweet about their teams, and even incorporate their fandom into WWE TV promos when appropriate. Now Da Bears and the Browns have recruited The Architect and The A-Lister for creative videos to announce their 2023 NFL regular season schedules.
As seen below, the Browns created a pro wrestling-style video with Miz and Nathan Zegura, who is the Browns sideline reporter and a three-time Super Bowl Champion. The animated video features a DPW Rumble hosted by Dawg Pound Wrestling, with Browns mascot Brownie The Elf going head-to-head in the ring with mascots or characters for all of this year’s opponents, while Miz and Zegura do wrestling-style ringside commentary. The DPW Rumble ends with Brownie celebrating with running back Nick Chubb and defensive end Myles Garrett.
Chicago went Hollywood for their schedule reveal. The video features Rollins, along with the following current players – quarterback Justin Fields, wide receiver Darnell Mooney, running back Khalil Herbert, cornerback Kyler Gordon, offensive tackle Braxton Jones, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, linebacker TJ Edwards and linebacker Jack Sanborn, plus two former Bears – cornerback Charles Tillman and defensive tackle Anthony “Spice” Adams. Stand-up comedian and actor Dyon Brooks is also featured, along with NFL personality Annie Agar and Bears reporter Lauren Screeden.
The Bears video is a take on “The Bear,” which is the FX comedy-drama that premiered on Hulu last summer, focused on a young chef who leaves a high-end restaurant in New York City to return home to Chicago to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop following the death of his brother. The series is based on the Mr. Beef restaurant in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, and some scenes from the Bears schedule video, and the TV show, were filmed at the actual Mr. Beef location on Orleans Street.
The video opens with Rollins taking orders in the sandwich shop. He told ChicagoBears.com that he flew into Chicago just to film the video, and said he enjoyed the experience, posing for photos and chatting with guys like Adams, Edmunds, Edwards and Sanborn when the cameras were not rolling.
“It was a blast,” Rollins said. “The setting was very Chicago. The cast, crew, the production was super easy and fun and I got to hang out with the Bears. As a lifelong fan, it’s always cool to hang out with the players. I think we’re kind of rock stars to each other a little bit. I’m like, ‘I wish I could play for the Bears,’ and I think they’re like, ‘Man, it would be so cool to get hit with a chair.’ It was just fun being fans of each other and getting to know those guys.”
The new schedule release videos from Chicago and Cleveland are part of a recent trend sweeping the NFL, where team content and social media departments are producing entertaining videos to announce games. You can see both videos below:
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