The average NFL calendar year is filled with a handful of “mini-football holidays” to keep fans invested in the league all throughout the year. These pseudo-holidays include the NFL Draft, the last day before the trade deadline, the start of free agency, and lastly, the day every team announces their regular season schedule. Thankfully for football fans everywhere, we got to celebrate that holiday last Wednesday, May 12th! Over the past few years, teams have started releasing creative announcement videos showing off their shiny new schedules. With that being said, instead of dissecting the schedules themselves trying to theorize how my team will go undefeated this year, I will be ranking the best and worst NFL team schedule announcement videos!
The Worst Five
32. New York Giants
Fortnite… the New York Giants announced their 2021 regular season schedule using Fortnite. The game may still be somewhat popular but they are about three years late on that trend. Comparing this video to the rest of the list, the Giants put in the least amount of effort in the league. Although this video might be a hit with “the youth”, this “epic Victory Royale” finds itself at the bottom of my list.
Drop into our 2021 schedule pic.twitter.com/95dUJUHIpj
— New York Giants (@Giants) May 12, 2021
31. Houston Texans
As an admitted Texans fan I expected a lot from them and rice tossing DID NOT get my football juices flowing. Considering Texans fans don’t really have much to be excited about, it seems pretty par for the course for the organizations to put out a fairly lackluster schedule release video. The only thing “being served” to the Texans is a nice 0-17 season.
The Houston Texans 2021 Schedule Release is being served ?
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) May 12, 2021
Experience gameday together » https://t.co/aKFLCi7IZ9 #WeAreTexans | @FriedRiceArt pic.twitter.com/Gd9mOuloIB
29. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles were one of the multiple teams in the league that used the same concept of “let’s take cool photos of things that somewhat resemble our opponents” for their schedule announcement video. As you can tell by their ranking, they did it the worst in the league. The Packers, Raiders, Jets, Steelers, Titans, and Dolphins were the other teams that used practically the same idea but in varying ways. Compared to their video from last year, the Eagles really mailed it in with this time. Not a single damn word is spoken throughout the whole video and the best thing about the video is the rap beat that is playing which I’m sure only took about 10 minutes to make using GarageBand.
Our 2021 schedule is truly a work of art, presented by @Hyundai.
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) May 12, 2021
?: NFL Network | 8 PM ET pic.twitter.com/dMjPJ7YNdr
28. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals centered their release video around the new NFT, non-fungible token, trend. Although it’s a novel idea and no one else in the league did it, it’s just so repetitive and unexciting that it landed itself this low in my rankings. Furthermore, it may be because of my young age or due to the fact that I don’t care about the Bengals whatsoever, but who really does, but I did not know a single damn person they were showing off. The only redeeming quality about this video is the fact that the soundtrack they picked gave me major Stranger Things vibes and I freaking love that show.
IT’S HERE! ? The Legends Pack – 2021 Schedule Edition
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) May 12, 2021
NO FEES on single game tickets: https://t.co/6cOJ2vIIDz pic.twitter.com/dPKZen2Cay
26. Chicago Bears
DAAAAA Bears decided to jump on another social media trend that absolutely NO ONE CARES ABOUT. Paint mixing. Do you know what’s worse than watching paint dry? Watching paint be mixed and people struggle to attempt to guess what color will be made! Bears nation voiced their displeasure with this dull announcement video in the replies on Twitter so instead of ripping into the organization more I suggest you read the Twitter replies if you are looking for a good ole fashion ROASTING!
Ready to shake things up.@Benjamin_Moore | #DaBears pic.twitter.com/hop4mHRAsv
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 12, 2021
Honorable Mentions
Denver Broncos
Although the video barely mentions the schedule itself, the Broncos brought back NFL legend Peyton Manning as a summer intern to help out around the facility. This hilarious video shows Peyton throwing mail around the office like a football, barking out orders in the kitchen like a play call, and answering prank phone calls from “Seymour Butts” AKA his brother Eli. This announcement video reminded me a lot of the old “This is Sportscenter” commercials, which is part of the reason why I loved it so much.
GiVe ThE sOcIaL mEdIa InTeRn A rAiSe.
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 12, 2021
Our 2021 schedule brought to you by Peyton, the greatest summer intern of all time: pic.twitter.com/3G5KqTsTCa
Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers took the simple idea of a PowerPoint and turned it into a masterpiece. Their PowerPoint on drugs is an extremely fast and effective way to get the schedule out however it is still filled with comedy and little jokes making fun of each opponent they play against. You could spend five minutes reading each slide of the PowerPoint just to find every joke. The Browns got the worst of the jokes with an almost black slide saying, “Things to do in Cleveland: nothing”.
should we REALLY make our schedule release video a powerpoint?
— Los Angeles Chargers (@Chargers) May 12, 2021
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/ePBMGFNJz1
New Orleans Saints
The Saints made a movie trailer to announce their schedule that reminded me of a high school theatre project. Actor Lance Nicholas and Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan are seen running around New Orleans trying to solve some kind of mystery. Cam’s comically bad acting combined with the use of hilariously terrible special effects that look like they were done through a free iPhone app made this video extremely enjoyable and original. AND OF COURSE, they had to throw in a cameo from Saints legend and recently retired Drew Brees which made the video even more special. Personal note: I need to see famous Jameis Winston as QB1 for them next season, he is pure entertainment whether he is the ball to his receivers or throwing pick-sixes to the other team… which he likes to do a lot.
Coming soon to a stadium near you… ? ?#Saints | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/6bZpAVhIDn
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) May 12, 2021
The Best Five
5. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons partnered with Gridiron Heights to release a The Bachelor/The Bachelorette spoof where their opponents came out of the infamous bachelor limo introducing themselves with wild and hilarious bits. This fast paced skit is filled with tons of hilarious NFL references that if you blink you’ll miss one; Such as Josh Allen wanting to jump through tables in true Bills fashion, the Lions’ new head coach, Dan Campbell, yelling about wanting to bite his opponent’s knee caps, and Tom Brady throwing the Lombardi trophy off a boat.
On a journey to find dubs.
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) May 12, 2021
Our 2021 schedule is here – https://t.co/UGNpFdNYvM pic.twitter.com/pgZGGyD5wk
4. Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks also used the classic “employees sitting around in meeting brainstorming ideas” video theme and it worked extremely well. Normally these videos are cringey forced jokes about popular culture and other trendy memes but the way the Seahawks used “The Alchemist” to speed through funny short clips announcing each week’s game worked great! Not to mention it’s not TEN FREAKING MINUTES lONG… yeah I’m looking at you Panthers.
We’ve been brainstorming all year for this.
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) May 12, 2021
Our 2021 schedule? ??’? ?? ??? ?????. pic.twitter.com/WIZLkuuQ4V
3. Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills definitely take home the “Most Creative Award” with their “Search and Destroy” video. Their video consists of various horror scenes in which they demolish different objects resembling their opponents. I expected the Bills to be in my top five because they have an incredible TikTok account that posts viral content all the time. Whoever is circling the wagons up in Buffalo does a damn good job at making funny videos.
Search. And. Destroy.
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 13, 2021
?: NFLN | @EllicottDev pic.twitter.com/Lz3MCZ9aUm
2. Baltimore Ravens
I mean come on… Carole Baskin, Kevin from “The Office”, Shooter McGavin, Andy Reid, the cake boss Duff Goldman, the voice of boxing, Michael Buffer, and many, many more! Announcing your schedule with a star-studded cast like this INSTANTLY gets you into my top five. The biggest surprise of the video was the special appearance from Mr. Uekusa, an internet star that made a name for himself on Britain’s Got Talent stripping down and balancing things on his naked body live on stage! Although this video idea isn’t very original, the sheer star power of the cast of characters from this video is the reason the Ravens find themselves at the number 2 spot.
“Eric DeCosta…quite the prankster! He wanted me and my friends to surprise you by revealing the schedule…” ??
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) May 12, 2021
?️: https://t.co/7m5s0qVBHy
?: NFL Net 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/2gHbzR1JND
1. Dallas Cowboys
I need Post Malone and Jerry Jones in my life every day. Although the video barely mentions the schedule itself, the rapper/billionaire duo is electric must-see TV… or tweet! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined seeing Cowboys owner Jerry Jones playing beer pong but he looked like a seasoned vet at it. Thinking back on it, of course he is good at it considering the fact he was probably alive when balls and cups were first invented. The added cameo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott getting trading cards rained down on them by the duo as if it was cash in a club was incredible!
Schedule release got ‘em sayin’ WOW!
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) May 13, 2021
Thanks, @postmalone. ?
Tickets available via @seatgeek → https://t.co/DJV8o7qCUo pic.twitter.com/WvN2FBtD2C
Thank you for reading my ranking of the best and worst 2021 NFL schedule announcement videos. I hope you enjoyed! You can find me on Twitter @Andrew_Winfield, while you’re there be sure to follow the main account @BellyUpSports! Check the Belly Up Sports NBA Page for more content from us!
