• by Fern Siegel , August 25, 2023

The NFL debuted “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up,” featuring actor Keegan-Michael Key and leading football players, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles, and DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks.Donna Kelce, the Kelces' mother, even makes an appearance.

The two spots, from 72andSunny, position the NFL as an entertainment, as well as a sports brand. What begins as a table read, branches out into individual players' ideas. Metcalf offers to do a no-hands, abs-only catch. The bottom line is it's trying to hype fan excitement for the 104^th NFL season. A second spot is here.

The campaign runs on TV, digital and social.

“Our goal was to make this campaign tongue-in-cheek, humorous and clever in the way we tapped into popular memes and cultural conversations about the league and its incredible real-life story lines — which are better than anything you could make up,” said Tim Ellis, CMO for the NFL.

“This campaign is a satirical response to the internet conspiracy that the NFL is scripted, but at the same time, speaks to the sheer athleticism of its players ... It’s so unbelievable, it has to be made up,” said Zach Hilder, executive creative director at 72andSunny.

The 2023 season starts on Sept. 7 with NFL Kickoff Weekend presented by YouTube TV. It begins with the Detroit Lions at the Kansas City Chiefs at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.