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Will Ferrell crashes Seattle Seahawks video meeting, pretends to be new player

Don't expect him to be on special teams, but he's already drawing up his own NFL plays.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper

Comedian Will Ferrell has played quite a few athletes in his time -- just watch the 2008 film Semi-Pro, 2007's Blades of Glory, or the classic 2006 sports comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. But on Thursday, he played a new Seattle Seahawks player, showing up at the NFL franchise's virtual meeting and surprising the team.

Coach Pete Carroll said he wanted to introduce the team to its new player, pretending the player was newly acquired tight end Greg Olsen, and then the familiar face of Ferrell showed up, clad in a Seahawks No. 12 jersey.

"Greg Olsen looks a little different here," the team's official Twitter account announced when sharing the video. "Special guest Will Ferrell crashed today's virtual team meeting."

Naturally, the comic stayed in character, Ferrell-style, announcing he'd drawn up a new play called "90-G9-Flywheel-Kanye-Starburst" and pulling up his shirt to show off his not-exactly-toned belly. He gave his age as 36 (he's 52), and declared he was never going to play on special teams, "not ever, even if all 52 guys are hurt."

Coach Carroll later thanked the actor for brightening up the get-together. "Thanks to Will Ferrell aka the Big G.O. for zoombombing our team meeting today!" Carroll tweeted.

And Olsen himself played along, tweeting, "What a warm welcome!"

Carroll and Ferrell have a friendship that goes back years. Carroll coached at Ferrell's alma mater, USC, before joining the Seahawks.