Watch: NFL teams use celebrity cameos, parody movies, video games for schedule releases

May 16 (UPI) — NFL teams made major efforts to creatively present their 2024 schedules for fans, using current and former players, actors, movie and video game parodies and even race car drivers.

Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Tim Robinson, Sam Richardson, Lewis Hamilton, Braun Strowman, Saweetie, Jake Paul and Chris Pratt were among the celebrities who appeared in the videos, which were released Wednesday night, concurrently with the NFL schedules.

Full schedules are available here.

Like last season, the Los Angeles Chargers again earned major praise on social media for their video, which parodied The Sims video game.

The Chargers, who will open the season against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 8 in Inglewood, Calif., dressed the game characters in their foes’ jerseys. They proceeded to trap them in a swimming pool before making fun of them in many other ways.

They also portrayed celebrity couple Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift and a potential quarterback quarrel between Atlanta Falcons teammates Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. They also poked fun at coaching brothers John Harbaugh and Jim Harbaugh.

The Raiders used an action-movie-style voiceover and footage from throughout Las Vegas in their video.

The Dallas Cowboys, who will open the season against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8 in Cleveland, provided the most star power in their release video.

That footage featured singers Post Malone and Saweetie, Internet personality/boxer Jake Paul, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, comedian Bert Kreischer, team owner Jerry Jones, franchise legend Michael Irvin and others.

Bowling legend Pete Weber was the star of the Browns’ schedule release video.

Several teams brought food into their videos through taste tests or other means. The Denver Broncos used Formula 1 legend and minority owner Lewis Hamilton to taste test food from their opponents’ cities, including Cincinnati-style chili, Kansas City barbecue, creole gumbo and dog treats.

The Broncos will open the season against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 8 in Seattle. Actor Chris Pratt provided a voiceover for the Seahawks’ schedule release video.

Rapper Lil Wayne, wrestler Braun Strowman and Joey Graziadei from The Bachelor appeared in the Green Bay Packers’ video.

The Packers will open the season against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 6 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Crazed fans were used in the Eagles schedule, with each pretending to work with a psychiatrist to reveal their opponents.

Actors Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson appeared in the Detroit Lions’ release video. They will open the season against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 8 in Detroit.

The Rams’ schedule-release video featured custom animations of a car riding through the cities of their opponents for 2024-25.

Quarterback Josh Allen was the main actor in the Buffalo Bills’ video, which was a parody of a Parks and Recreation episode. Allen pretended to be a construction worker at the site of the Bills’ new stadium. The Bills will host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.

The Cardinals’ video featured local artists painting a mural.

Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams participated in the Chicago Bears’ video, which was a parody of the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The Bears will host the Tennessee Titans in their season opener.

The Titans, who had one of the best videos last year when they walked the streets of Nashville, asking fans to identify NFL teams by their logos, used a similar tactic in 2024.

The Washington Commanders used a cake-or-not-cake theme in their video, using a knife to cut into various opponent-related objects to determine if they were frosted treats.

The Commanders will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1. The Buccaneers used art, former and current players, and others to reveal their schedule.

The New England Patriots parodied Good Will Hunting, using former players Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and others to announce their foes and game times. They will battle the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 8 in Cincinnati.

The Bengals’ video featured Kermit the Frog, mascots and children playing a supernatural version of football.

Several teams went to their local streets to interact with fans for their videos, including the New York Giants and New York Jets.

The Giants will host the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1. The Jets will start their season against the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9 in Santa Clara, Calif.

The Vikings’ video poked fun at schedule release hype, while flashing football highlights. The 49ers’ video featured a fan’s viral impression of pass rusher Nick Bosa. That footage also featured Bosa driving his boat in Florida.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill and running back Raheem Mostert starred in their video, which played off of their team speed by showing the schedule very rapidly.

The Dolphins will host the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. The Jaguars parodied the X-Men movie franchise for their release footage.

Franchise legends Drew Brees, Shannon Sharpe, a meteorologist and mixed martial arts star were used in the New Orleans Saints’ video, which was in job-interview format.

The Saints will host the Carolina Panthers in their opener. The Panthers’ video featured players attempting to paint portraits of each other, with limited success.

The Falcons, who will open against the Pittsburgh Steelers, parodied the video game NFL Street. Steelers players hilariously attempted to tell dad jokes to stoic franchise legend James Harrison in their video.

Comedian Stavros Halkias pretended to go on a shopping spree with a team credit card in the Baltimore Ravens’ short film. The Ravens will open the season against the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

The Chiefs used a hydraulic press to smash opponent-related items, including chili, peaches, phone chargers and more, to reveal their schedule.

The Houston Texans also used a hydraulic press and a tractor excavator to smash foe-linked items. Their Week 1 foes, the Indianapolis Colts, used coach Shane Steichen, players and a classroom of children to announce their slate.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will face the Ravens in the NFL regular-season opener — a rematch of last season’s AFC title game — at 8:20 p.m. EDT Sept. 5 in Kansas City, Mo. That game will air on NBC.

The 2024 NFL schedule features eight other playoff rematches, including one of Super Bowl LVIII. That meeting, between the Chiefs and 49ers, will be Oct. 20 in Santa Clara.

The Lions and 49ers will meet in an NFC Championship game rematch on Dec. 30 in Santa Clara. NFL Research announced earlier this off-season that the Browns had the toughest strength of schedule for 2024, followed by the Ravens, Steelers, Texans and Packers.

The Falcons, Saints, Bears, Panthers, Chargers and Buccaneers have the easiest schedules, according to that data, which is based on last season’s statistics.

NFL players will participate in organized team activities over the next few weeks ahead of mandatory minicamp in June.