Hey, you got your football in my crime drama! You got your crime drama in my football!
Two great tastes that taste great together or potentially awkward corporate synergy? CBS will give viewers the chance to judge for themselves on four occasions during its network prime-time programming this fall.
A quartet of former NFL stars — three of whom work for CBS as either studio or game analysts — will guest-star on a variety of CBS dramas early in the fall season.
Boomer Esiason will guest-star on Blue Bloods Oct. 3, playing himself and asking police commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) for a difficult favor. Eric Dickerson, currently not a CBS football analyst, appears on the Oct. 31 episode of Hawaii Five-0. He’ll bump into Lt. Cmdr. McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) at a bait shop in Oahu and pose for a selfie. And on Nov. 13, Phil Simms will portray himself on Elementary, appearing as an associate of Sherlock who, as CBS puts it, “has a surprising, little-known talent.”
The one NFL great who’s extending himself and actually playing someone other than himself is Tony Gonzalez. He will guest-star on NCIS as Special Agent Tony Francis. (Just in case anyone gets confused, Gonzalez is keeping the same first name with his role.) That episode will run on Sept. 30.
Look at that guy. He’s a rock star. Or at least a TV star. Hopefully, Gonzalez gets to point and fire his weapon or chase someone down an alley on foot and pull that perp down from a fence. Dickerson, Esiason and Simms aren’t getting that action. Unless profiency with a firearm is Simms’ “surprising, little-known talent.” Or maybe he bores suspects during interrogations.
All of these special guest appearances will likely be mercifully short, unless their roles actually have something to do with each show’s respective storylines and provide the opportunity to demonstrate some acting chops. Given the descriptions released by CBS, however, that probably won’t apply. Gonzalez has potential, though. The dude is playing a special agent.
Dickerson and Simms’ guest appearances will take place during the crucial November sweeps period, running from Oct. 30 to Nov. 26. Perhaps that gives those two bragging rights over their peers, who didn’t quite make the cut for sweeps.
