SmootSmack
08-04-2007, 11:22 AM
Jason Campbell: Fake Fake Fake Fake Fake - D.C. Sports Bog (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2007/08/jason_campbell_fake_fake_fake.html)
The great question in the media room the past several days--aside from whether Sean Taylor will ever speak with us--is whether Jason Campbell's NFL.com fantasy football commercial (above) is real or computer-assisted.
From the beginning, I said fake fake fake fake fake fake. A team spokesman, however, has been insisting that he watched in person as Campbell executed the trick for an NFL.com crew. Jason "sell me a timeshare in Boca" LaCanfora decided to buy the party line:
I am just enough of a rube to actually buy it. Others here in the media room, especially The Mad Bogger, Dan Steinberg, the Brandon Lloyd of NFL experts, say no flippin' way. Calls BS on it. Sez it's totally fake. I got JC's back, I'm buying in, he wouldn't deceive us, would he?
People on ExtremeSkins also jumped on board:
IT IS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kelli Johnson just said it is real........and Jason did it on the 2nd take. OMG.......we have a winner in JC!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!
Today, I determined the truth would be revealed.
Fellow quarterbacks--none of whom had seen the commercial--were asked whether such a feat were possible.
"I've never even tried," Todd Collins Campbell said. "Maybe I'll try tomorrow; then I'll have a better answer for you."
"I used to do this as a kid; you throw the ball and I'll try to hit it," rookie Jordan Palmer said. "It's doable, but to split it and go perfectly to two guys? I mean, you can answer that, can't you? That's ridiculous."
Finally, I found Campbell signing autographs for his adoring fans and asked the crucial question. "Did you hit it, did you hit it?" the adoring fans also asked, knowing immediately what I was talking about.
"Yeah," Campbell said.
"Yeahhhh, I knew that was real," one of the adoring fans said.
"I don't believe you dude," I said.
"You don't believe me?" he asked.
"Jason, I believe you," the adoring fan said.
I asked a total of 10 follow-up questions, but was stonewalled at every turn. His answers included "it's all about being creative," "see, I can't answer that, then people would get mad," and "it's a mystery, unsolved." I asked what I should tell the world; "just tell them to observe what they see and have their own opinion," he said. There was a lot of laughing involved. That was good enough for me.
Then Campbell was snatched up by the media mob; the first question, naturally, was about the commercial. He told the mob that the stunt required 25 or 50 takes, and that the whole point of the ad was to leave people wondering, to leave the mystery unsolved.
"Just go home try it out in your backyard," he urged us. "If you hit it, I'll give you $10."
I mean, he was mastering the art of spin before our very eyes. The next question was about Antwaan Randle El's frequent jabs at his playcalling diction. "Antwaan has little ears," Campbell said. "He's got to get some bigger ears so he can hear."
(He was also asked whether his ad was similar to LeBron James and the full-court shot; "I can do that one," Campbell said. "Anything's possible.")
The great question in the media room the past several days--aside from whether Sean Taylor will ever speak with us--is whether Jason Campbell's NFL.com fantasy football commercial (above) is real or computer-assisted.
From the beginning, I said fake fake fake fake fake fake. A team spokesman, however, has been insisting that he watched in person as Campbell executed the trick for an NFL.com crew. Jason "sell me a timeshare in Boca" LaCanfora decided to buy the party line:
I am just enough of a rube to actually buy it. Others here in the media room, especially The Mad Bogger, Dan Steinberg, the Brandon Lloyd of NFL experts, say no flippin' way. Calls BS on it. Sez it's totally fake. I got JC's back, I'm buying in, he wouldn't deceive us, would he?
People on ExtremeSkins also jumped on board:
IT IS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kelli Johnson just said it is real........and Jason did it on the 2nd take. OMG.......we have a winner in JC!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!
Today, I determined the truth would be revealed.
Fellow quarterbacks--none of whom had seen the commercial--were asked whether such a feat were possible.
"I've never even tried," Todd Collins Campbell said. "Maybe I'll try tomorrow; then I'll have a better answer for you."
"I used to do this as a kid; you throw the ball and I'll try to hit it," rookie Jordan Palmer said. "It's doable, but to split it and go perfectly to two guys? I mean, you can answer that, can't you? That's ridiculous."
Finally, I found Campbell signing autographs for his adoring fans and asked the crucial question. "Did you hit it, did you hit it?" the adoring fans also asked, knowing immediately what I was talking about.
"Yeah," Campbell said.
"Yeahhhh, I knew that was real," one of the adoring fans said.
"I don't believe you dude," I said.
"You don't believe me?" he asked.
"Jason, I believe you," the adoring fan said.
I asked a total of 10 follow-up questions, but was stonewalled at every turn. His answers included "it's all about being creative," "see, I can't answer that, then people would get mad," and "it's a mystery, unsolved." I asked what I should tell the world; "just tell them to observe what they see and have their own opinion," he said. There was a lot of laughing involved. That was good enough for me.
Then Campbell was snatched up by the media mob; the first question, naturally, was about the commercial. He told the mob that the stunt required 25 or 50 takes, and that the whole point of the ad was to leave people wondering, to leave the mystery unsolved.
"Just go home try it out in your backyard," he urged us. "If you hit it, I'll give you $10."
I mean, he was mastering the art of spin before our very eyes. The next question was about Antwaan Randle El's frequent jabs at his playcalling diction. "Antwaan has little ears," Campbell said. "He's got to get some bigger ears so he can hear."
(He was also asked whether his ad was similar to LeBron James and the full-court shot; "I can do that one," Campbell said. "Anything's possible.")