The Five Funniest ‘SNL’ Football Sketches to Kick Off the 2024 Season
The NFL season kicks off Thursday with Baltimore traveling to Kansas City for a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship Game. And what could be funnier than a skybox shot of Brittany Mahomes accidentally spilling nachos into Taylor Swift’s lap? How about celebrating another year of your fantasy football humiliation with these five hilarious sketches in which Saturday Night Live skewers America’s favorite sport.
United Way
The kid that Peyton Manning flattened with a football is now grown up and married. Manning agreed to make a video for the wedding, telling the groom: “Jack, I threw a few touchdowns in my career, but for the most part, people who walk up to me on the street recognize me for hitting you in the back of the head. So thank you, Jack, for putting me on the map.”
Robbie
In addition to Rudy being one of the sappiest sports films ever made, it’s also one of the biggest lies. That bit where all the players put their uniforms on the coach’s desk to get Rudy a spot in the game? “The jersey scene is unforgivable,” says real-life coach Dan Devine. “It's a lie and untrue.”
Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana agreed. “The crowd wasn’t chanting, nobody threw in their jerseys,” he told Dan Patrick.
So not only is JJ Watt’s version funnier, but it’s likely more accurate. “He sucks at football!”
NFL Gives Back
With Travis Kelce as host, Saturday Night Live returned to the United Way. But instead of Peyton Manning hitting on kids’ moms, this time players are volunteering their time to lift women whose boyfriends aren’t strong enough to pick them up.
Of course, guys who can’t deadlift their partners shouldn’t feel bad. “Look, I love my little boyfriend,” says Heidi Gardner. “But sometimes I just want to be thrown around and feel tiny.”
NFL Films: Forefathers of the Game
Why did opposing players fear Billy “The Gun” Van Goff? For starters, he had the strongest arm in the league. Also — he always brought a gun on the field. The league quickly banned firearms but for some reason included a grandfather clause. If you already had used a gun in a game, you were allowed to keep firing away.
O.J.’s Confession
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When O.J. Simpson passed away earlier this year, Tim Meadows received a deluge of text messages from friends. “People had been passing around that ‘I did it’ sketch from SNL,” he told The Chris and Amy Show in St. Louis.
’I was serious about the stuff when I was doing it. We were making a comment on the trial and everything that was pretty important,” said Meadows. “I just haven’t thought about it in a while so it’s kind of weird to talk about. Yeah, the dude has passed away, and to me, it’s a sad story all around. It’s almost hard for me to make light of it.”
