Family Guy Humor Played A Role In Seahawks Winning Defense
A Family Guy episode helped break the ice between Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor after they were both drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in 2010. Then first-year head coach Pete Carroll paired the two together as roommates for the duration of training camp with the aim of building personal bonds on and off the field. The strategy worked. And Family Guy’s humor played a small but crucial role right from the start.
Thomas recalled walking in on Chancellor, who was watching an episode of Family Guy.
“I just asked him, ‘Bro, you watch Family Guy?” Thomas said.
Thomas admitted on the Seahawks website that he only watched ESPN’s “Sports Center” back then and was quite surprised to see the Fox’s animated adult comedy on the television in his hotel room.
“Yeah, he called me weird for watching Family Guy,” Chancellor said. “I don’t know, I just like watching Family Guy. There’s a lot of humor to it.”
Then the duo made Seahawks history together as safeties in the Legion of Boom, the Seahawks’ stellar secondary unit. With a Super Bowl championship under their belts, seven Pro Bowl invites and six All-Pro selections between them, Thomas reflected on their early friendship and how the present is often overlooked.
“It’s crazy how when you come together and you never dream of right now,” Thomas said.
Seahawks team members aren’t the only ones paying tribute to Family Guy. If NFL players aren’t watching episodes, they well could be starring in them. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady lent his voice playing himself in Family Guy’s Season 4, Episode 20’s aptly-named “Patriot Games” in 2006.
Family Guy’s cultural influence has even made the big leap from television to the real world. In a case of life imitating art, Inquisitr reported earlier this month on the Real Life Peter Griffin, Robert Franzese, the Comic Con celebrity who not only sounds like Peter Griffin but looks like him too.
Fresh off the comeback overtime 28-22 victory against the Green Bay Packers to claim the NFC Title on Sunday, the Seahawks are scheduled to meet the real Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on February 1. Seattle becomes the first team in ten years to defend their Super Bowl title while Brady will make a record-tying eighth appearance.
If the Seahawks can hold off Brady and win a second Super Bowl, Seattle fans making the connection between Family Guy and certain NFL players may call on Seth MacFarlane to create another episode in honor of a Seattle victory. What could be better than Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor making their animation debuts against the legendary Tom Brady — and Peter Griffin facing off against the Real Life Peter Griffin?
