Halloween is near, which means it’s time for all your favorite sports media personalities to don their costumes on-air while trying to maintain a straight face and deliver serious analysis.
NFL Network’s NFL GameDay Morning crew set a tough standard for everyone else to follow Sunday morning, with host Rich Eisen standing in a faux graveyard (it was clearly fake, as it was right in the middle of a fake football field on the set) and introducing his colleagues in their costumes. The catch? Each analyst had to give their take on whether a particular team was a “trick” or “treat” so far this season.
Gerald McCoy appeared in a tiger costume meant to represent the Cincinnati Bengals but looking more like iconic Kellogg’s character Tony the Tiger.
“Gerald, you’re either here to sell us breakfast cereal, or talk about the Bengals,” Eisen joked. McCoy compared the Bengals to candy (“Every time you open it, you don’t know what you’re going to get”) before Eisen gave him some candy.
Next up: Kurt Warner in a The Flash costume, theatrically racing through the graveyard talking about how fast Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert reached certain career milestones.
“But Jim Harbaugh has really slowed this whole thing down,” Warner said very slowly. “And if you’re The Flash and have no speed, you’re just an idiot in a red suit. So I am saying the Chargers are a trick this year unfortunately, because they’re not using their quarterback.”
Cynthia Frelund showed up in a bear costume, calling the Chicago Bears a treat with Caleb Williams. Then came the big surprise: Colleen Wolfe, wearing a Peyton Manning mask.
“It’s Peyton Manning making his NFL Network debut,” Eisen joked. Frelund then spoofed the Nationwide “Paintin’ Manning” commercial.
Best acting job of the day went to Steve Mariucci, who dressed in a pirates outfit for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spouted clichéd pirate phrases that sounded straight from an old Hollywood movie.
“Shiver me timbers, I got no wide receivers right now,” Mariucci said, before peering through a spyglass that looked suspiciously like an empty paper towel roll.
NFL GameDay Morning with a “Trick or Treat” segment featuring the NFL Network crew in Halloween costumes. 🏈📺🎙️🎃👻 pic.twitter.com/O2cUSbjzTf
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 27, 2024
There will be other Halloween-themed sports media shows in the next few days, but NFL GameDay Morning set a high standard for costumes (Warner’s Flash), script (Mariucci’s buccaneer) and set (that faux graveyard).
[NFL GameDay Morning]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.