It’s Oscar season, and to be honest we’re feeling a little left out. Our entertainment writing brethren get to talk about nods, snubs and the miscarriage of cinema justice — while we’re stuck with arguments over whether Brock Purdy is elite.
The NFL has more than enough drama to have its own Academy Awards, so we sat down as a panel to agree on the best examples of each category in the sport.
Best picture: Football (Taylor’s Version)
Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
It’s not for everyone, but there’s no double that Football (Taylor’s Version) took the NFL by storm this year.
Best actor: Skip Bayless for Throwing My Cowboys’ Gear Away or Frustrations With An Automatic Trash Can
A scintillating performance that starts being the worst acting job of the year, and then becomes a tale of one man’s struggles with technology.
Best supporting actor: Dom DiSandro for Big Dom’s Wild Ride
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Everyone needs a director of security who is willing to fight anyone, and everyone for his team.
Best director: Mike McDaniel, The Swaggy Nerd
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Mike McDaniel’s Miami glow up has turned him into a weird poker player.
International film: Role Player’s Delight by the weird British NFL fans
This horror movie caught us all off guard and rocked us to our core.
Visual effects: The Detroit Lions, for Sam LaPorta’s trick play
Just beautiful work here.
Costume design: New York Jets players Jermaine Johnson, Will McDonald, and Bryce Huff for A Naruto Halloween
The Akatsuki have never looked so good.
Animated short: CJ Stroud and the Texans, Squabble
You know a celebration is good when everyone in the NFL starts doing it as soon as you debut it. The Squabble is now synonymous with Stroud and the Texans.
Animated feature: Miami Dolphins for Rollercoaster
This captured the childlike glee and imagination of a day at the theme park in a way no other celebration did.
Editing: The Lions and Chargers for Splicing Austin Ekeler into a Lions sandwich
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Putting this together is takes craft and skill. Really captured the anguish of the moment.
Best Makeup and hair: Andy Reid in Journaux d’une Moustache Gelée (Diaries of a Frozen Mustache)
It looks so real that it might as well be real ice.
