There’s an NFL game on Nickelodeon and Twitter is having a great time

Nickelodeon is airing the NFL playoff game between the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints. Twitter, as usual, is making jokes about it.

BY HABOOB BLOG

Jan 10, 2021, 3:37 PM

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston (2) greets quarterback Drew Brees (9) after Brees threw a touchdown pass to Michael Thomas in the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Chicago Bears in New Orleans, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

(AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Children around the country must have been thrilled on Sunday afternoon when their parents turned the channel to Nickelodeon on their own accord.

This wasn’t the newest Dan Schneider show. The NFL partnered with the station to air the playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears.

Coverage, led by play-by-play voice Noah Eagle and analyst Nate Burleson and joined by Nick stars Gabrielle Nevaeh Green and Lex Lumpkin, was noticeably different than the usual tenor of Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and the other typical voices you’d hear during a broadcast.

They tailored the call to children. Burleseon, a former NFL receiver, explained rules in detail including what a challenge flag is. They talked about players in different ways.

Nate Burleson on Nickelodeon explaining who Taysom Hill is: "Alright children. He's the kid at recess who can do everything."

— NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) January 10, 2021

And there was some general unbridled joy from the team, such as the exclamations after a punt and incredulousness from Green about Akiem Hicks’ 324-pound frame.

There were Spongebob intros, graphics talking about players’ favorite Nickelodeon shows, and the chance for lots of slime. Obviously.

I’m in pic.twitter.com/wtM9JDNiNf

— Logan Newman (@Logan_Newsman) January 10, 2021

And a little field goal surprise.

SpongeBob, ready to eat your field-goal attempts pic.twitter.com/ySkjIoS6DZ

— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) January 10, 2021

(That was a graphic, not actually on the netting. Just to clarify).

Twitter, as it tends to, had fun with the general ridiculousness of the show.

The lines, uh, the lines are not official. pic.twitter.com/uUChyWPeZo

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 10, 2021

The yellow line isn’t official. But the Nickelodeon slime line? I’d bet my life on it

— Ol’ Saint Mick (@ColeyMick) January 10, 2021

Don’t worry, they got those lines fixed quickly.

They had to for all these “adults” tuning into the network.

time to tune in to nickelodeon like a normal adult

— ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk) January 10, 2021

Me pulling up to Nickelodeon to watch my bet pic.twitter.com/UMOpnjaYdN

— Michael Ritter (@MikeSteveRitter) January 10, 2021

My wife and I when the kids want to watch something other than the game and they change the channel to @Nickelodeon

pic.twitter.com/U1yhGZAU6z

— Will Blackmon 🍷 (@WillBlackmon) January 10, 2021

Some on Twitter actually enjoyed the helpful little football facts that were being shared for those new to the game.

Aye moe Nickelodeon is explaining football to us like we 8 years old and I love it 😂

— Wale (@Wale) January 10, 2021

The Nickelodeon commentators when there’s a punt: pic.twitter.com/r5daplpO73

— Wami🌟 (@WamiWaynwiedWo) January 10, 2021

Trying to learn how to play football watching the Nickelodeon broadcast pic.twitter.com/q7OZffL5Hy

— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) January 10, 2021

Of course, there were plenty of Spongebob jokes.

Nickelodeon when someone breaks a leg: pic.twitter.com/IBP41ugBA3

— DLO and ROSAS SZN(Wolves Bird App President) (@BuxtonSZN) January 10, 2021

Only the most hard-hitting analysis from the Nickelodeon broadcast pic.twitter.com/7IDzpWduj4

— SI Extra Mustard (@SI_ExtraMustard) January 10, 2021

pic.twitter.com/ogJL6jasRL

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 10, 2021

There’s no Bears game without a Mitch Trubisky joke. As good a job the announcers did of using helpful comparisons during the game (“It looks like the nose touched the ground like a dog sniffing for something,” Burleson said of the football when watching a replay of a diving interception under review), Twitter got in on it too.

"You know how sometimes when you're picking teams at recess and the captain picks his friend instead of the best athlete?" https://t.co/ubftdrzM8Z

— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) January 10, 2021

For what it’s worth, Ian Rapoport said his kids are enjoying it.