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Uncle Rico Joins Denver Broncos? Funny Pic Goes Viral As Mark Sanchez Becomes Broncos QB

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 08:21 PST, Mar 11, 2016

Did Uncle Rico get signed as the new Denver Broncos quarterback?

If you believe the now-viral picture of the popular Napoleon Dynamite character shaking hands with John Elway, chances are that you may have at least thought it was true for a brief second.

The Uncle Rico photo, which was posted on Facebook Thursday, has already been shared more than 15,000 times on the popular social media platform. The photo shows an apparently shocked Uncle Rico (played by actor Jon Gries) shaking hands with none other than John Elway — an NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, a former Denver Broncos quarterback, and the team’s General Manager and Executive Vice President of Football Operations.

Jon Gries Uncle Rico
(Photo Credit: Facebook)

Perhaps the biggest highlight — and funniest part — of the viral photo of Uncle Rico joining the Denver Broncos was the “breaking news” caption that went along with it.

“BREAKING NEWS: The Denver Broncos sign veteran quarterback, Uncle Rico, from Idaho. VP of Football operations and General Manager, John Elway said, ‘The guy can throw a football over them Rocky Mountains.'”

At first glance, the photo may have thrown off quite a few people — especially since it does look somewhat authentic for a moment. However, it does not take reality very long to settle in after you start to pay attention to what and who you are seeing in the picture.

That dose of reality apparently hasn’t stopped quite a few people from talking about it on Twitter — poking fun at the “possibility” of Uncle Rico getting a chance to live out his dreams as a professional NFL quarterback.

Uncle Rico was a memorable character from the 2004 sleeper hit movie, Napoleon Dynamite. In the film, The Rundown actor Jon Gries starred as Uncle Rico — the former athlete-turned-salesman that continuously talks about his past football skills and talents. Uncle Rico first gets called into the picture after Napoleon’s grandmother injures herself and needs Rico to watch after Napoleon and his brother, Kip, in her absence.

Uncle Rico Napoleon Dynamite
(Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)

There are so many different memorable moments throughout Napoleon Dynamite that longtime fans and critics likely cherish each time they watch the Jared Hess-directed film: the Glamour Shots pose, the time machine scene, Rico vs. Napoleon, etc.

However, one of the biggest highlights has to be when Uncle Rico bragged about his football past to Kip. In this particular scene, which is also mocked in the Denver Broncos photo caption, Uncle Rico even demonstrates his “skill” unsuccessfully.

“How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?… Yeah… Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.”

Since Uncle Rico doesn’t exist in real life, Napoleon Dynamite fans will continue to have to root for him as the movie underdog that never got his big opportunity to join the NFL and win the Super Bowl. However, Denver Bronco fans and critics can start to root for former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez since he is officially joining the Broncos roster.

John Elway confirmed the news about Mark Sanchez heading to the Denver Broncos roster on Twitter Friday.

Perhaps the “process” to which Elway is referring has something to do with the gap that Peyton Manning left in the roster line-up after officially deciding to end his NFL career and retire earlier this week. With the 2016-17 preseason quickly approaching, Elway has some big decisions to make when it comes to building a solid team to defend their Super Bowl championship in the coming year. Keep in mind that, in addition to Peyton Manning’s retirement decision, Brock Osweiler reportedly decided to join the Houston Texans as a free agent.

Many sports critics and reporters do not feel as if Mark Sanchez is a long-term solution for the void in the Denver Broncos roster. Tim Daniels with the Bleacher Report wrote that the 29-year-old quarterback is simply “somebody who can help fill the short-term void with Denver caught in a tight spot right now.” Daniels further wrote that Sanchez’s addition to the roster is more of a “quantity over quality approach at this stage and it cost the team barely anything.”

Those that love underdog hero stories, like Uncle Rico, may be hoping that Mark Sanchez offers the team a surprising performance next season – shocking longtime fans, critics and sports reporters alike. At this point, only time will tell but no one knows what other tricks John Elway might have up his sleeve in the off-season.

[Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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