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BIKINI BOTTOM — Bobby Wagner has made a lot of big plays in his decade-long NFL career, including in his current stop with the Los Angeles Rams. But he's never had an interception called by one of the biggest cartoon stars on television.
Until this weekend, that is.
Sunday was the NFL's now-annual Nickelodeon game, or "Nickmas" game this year, where the league presents an alternate broadcast on CBS Viacom's children-oriented channel to try to broaden the game to a younger generation that was hosted on Christmas Day.
The broadcast includes Nickelodeon's famed slime cannons shot off in the end zone after every touchdown (via augmented reality, of course), a field-goal net in the likeness of SpongeBob Squarepants, and in-game appearances by popular network stars introducing game concepts, plays and terminology to the younger generation.
And that's where Patrick Star, the co-star of SpongeBob Squarepants, came in. The starfish voiced by Bill Fagerbakke (who also had a role in the sports sitcom "Coach" playing lead character Michael "Dauber" Dybinski, you may recall) crawled out from under his rock, took a break from chowing down at the Krusty Krab, and roasted Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson for an "introception" in the first quarter, a pick that Wagner pulled down under the tag-team commentary of NFL broadcaster Noah Eagle.
"Oh, there's Russ Wilson," Patrick said during the Rams' 51-14 win over the Broncos. "Oh ... Oh, no!
"Yeah, that's not what he wanted to cook."
Added Eagle: "I think he burnt whatever he was cooking."
Patrick Star really has a future as a play-by-play announcer. 🤩
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2022
📺: #DENvsLAR on @Nickelodeon
📱: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/65Zxrbz4lT
Patrick then made sure to remind viewers that Wagner and Wilson were teammates with the Seattle Seahawks during the 32-year-old Southern California native's career in the Emerald City through 2021.
"Bobby Wagner, coming to town and doing that that with his old teammate," he said.
Prior to the game, while many of Wagners' Rams teammates picked SpongeBob, Rocket Power and CatDog as favorite Nickelodeon TV series, Wagner went a bit more off the beaten path in a pre-practice video produced by the Rams.
"Danny Phantom's cool," Wagner said of the three-year series that ran from 2004-2007 and lasted just 53 episodes, "Or Jimmy Neutron."
Yesterday's Have You Seen This?
The world's most perfect ice fishing spot
After watching this video, however, it seems like we might've been doing it wrong. Rather than standing in one place, beholden to the holes we've drilled, we should have been trolling.
