Football is a strange game. On TV it appears brutish and violent, but any closer examination reveals the childishness at its core.
Just listen to any of the league’s quarterbacks—for instance, Bengals signal-caller Joe Burrow—call out plays for his team. You’ll never take the NFL too seriously again.
Thursday morning, the league posted a clip on social media from Cincinnati’s 24–18 win over the Bills Sunday, depicting Burrow reading incomprehensible play calls to his attentive Bengals teammates.
With a largely straight face, Burrow instructed Cincinnati’s offense to run “Zilch Left 35 Wichita Macho Toe,” “Dice Right Numbers 3 Jet Spielberg,” “Grizzle Left Tight F Fly Pass 37 Punch Waggle Help Baby Dizzy X Fan,” and other peculiarities.
.@JoeyB and the @Bengals have some very interesting play calls. 😂
(via @NFLFilms) pic.twitter.com/9YhD9BIUMj
— NFL (@NFL) November 9, 2023
Fans and observers were confused, amused, and a little bit in awe of Burrow’s ability to commit all that information to memory—and regurgitate it with a straight face.
It’s the delivery that does it for me! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😄 https://t.co/9kakwAn2KW
— 👸🏼🧡QUEEN BENGAL BABE🖤🐅 (@thebengalbabe) November 9, 2023
Even doctors were impressed.
What is most impressive is how they can easily pick out and translate what they need to know https://t.co/ZjM0RTBOyw
— Dan Schumacher, MD, PhD (he/him/his) (@DrDanSchumacher) November 9, 2023
Many admired Burrow’s note-perfect delivery, essential for survival in the NFL’s game of chess (and for maximum comedic value).
and he didn’t even stutter once https://t.co/oZbxhyxiBe
— heather (@jonasburrow) November 9, 2023
NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano chimed in humorously.
Karate, Spielberg, Whiskey, Brady.
Sounds like an elevator pitch. https://t.co/w1L3iiqbnO
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) November 9, 2023
The moral of the story: if there’s anything men love more than the Roman Empire, it’s devising unbelievably complicated codes.
boy math https://t.co/lCjsfsZf8P
— woré (@alexiswore) November 9, 2023
