Comedian and “Fox NFL Sunday” guest picker Rob Riggle dishes on the Super Bowl, being a Kansas City fan and working in comedy.
Rob Riggle is beyond excited for Super Bowl 54. For him, and this year especially, it might as well be a holiday.
This is because when Riggle isn’t tasing Ed Helms in The Hangover or messing with Terry Bradshaw on Fox NFL Sunday, he is an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan. The man bleeds red, gold and white and is beyond excited for his team’s anticipated matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.
Before heading down to Miami for the big game, Riggle stopped in New York to promote his new Super Bowl commercial. Working with Proctor & Gamble, he will represent Bounty in a revolutionary interactive Super Bowl ad.
While promoting the ad, Riggle took the time to just talk the Super Bowl with ESNY. Needless to say, the former The Daily Show correspondent did not disappoint.
Josh Benjamin: Rob, you are a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan. The big game is on Sunday. How are you feeling?
Rob Riggle: I’m feeling really good. I don’t think my feet have touched the ground since we won the AFC Championship. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this to happen, and it’s happening. And, I mean, it couldn’t be a more evenly matched game. I think it’s a one-point spread in the game. Yeah, so those oddsmakers are really good at what they do. I think America’s in for a treat. I think it’s going to be a great game!
JB: Are you nervous? Excited? Both?
RR: I’m excited. I’m really excited. I don’t want to get down in the weeds about anxiety or fear, so I’m just enjoying it. The fact that we’re there in the Super Bowl— the fact that I’m going to be down there for the Super Bowl doing all the things that I’m doing down there? I’m on Cloud 9. I couldn’t be happier.
JB: So you grew up a big Chiefs fan. Do you have a favorite Chiefs memory?
RR: I’ve got to say, it happened just about three weeks ago. I was at the game when we came back and beat the Texans. We were down 24 points in the first quarter and came back and won the game. Greatest comeback in franchise history. And I’ve been telling people this story, but it’s true.
I was with my son after the first quarter. And I had to say, “Hey, son, don’t worry about it. It’s going to be okay. There’s a lot of game left. All the bad breaks that have happened to us can happen to them. Let’s stay positive. Don’t give up. Let’s stay in the game here and let’s change it up.”
So we went and changed seats. And sure enough, they came back and we won that game. And it was neat for my son to see that it can happen. You can come back from 24 points down in a playoff game and win. Miracles do happen and it was really cool. So that was probably my most special Chiefs/Arrowhead memory.
JB: When you were growing up, who was your favorite Chiefs player?
RR: Oh my gosh. I had so many! So many! I remember Art Still, the defensive end. He’s, like, 6’7” and he kind of reminded me of Ed “Too Tall” Jones. He was just this beast as a defensive end. And I played a little defensive end when I was just starting out, so I always kind of identified with him.
Of course, Christian Okoye, “The Nigerian Nightmare,” just smashing through the holes, knocking people over. He was such a beast. I think he was the original Beast Mode. Of course, when [Joe] Montana joined us and got us to the AFC Championship Game in ’93. There are just so many great players. Just so many great players along the way I’ve enjoyed watching.
JB: Describe Super Bowl Sunday in the Riggle household.
RR: It depends. We’ve gone to several Super Bowls recently. So if we’re not actually going, we usually want to have friends over. And we break out the spread. I’m a Kansas City guy, so you know I’m barbecuing. And we have a lot of barbecues. We just have a lot of snacky food. You’ve got to have a lot of snacky food. Because you’re grazing the whole game. Then, you have some big piece of meat for halftime. And then, of course, you clean it all up with some Bounty!
JB: Let’s shift gears. You were on The Daily Show for a few years. Jon Stewart, the host, is a huge Giants fan. Were there any special SB traditions in the office when you were there?
RR: No Super Bowl traditions, but we did have a fantasy football league at The Daily Show. It was a blast ‘cause some people were passionate about it, and some people left it on autodraft. Embarrassingly, John Oliver won two years. Out of the many years I was there, he won two, which was just mind-blowing and shameful to the rest of us. Because he barely knew what he was doing. And yet, he would still win. He must be doing his research at night or something.
JB: Better at fantasy football: you or Jon Stewart?
RR: <Thinks> Me.
JB: You were there when the Giants won a Super Bowl. Was there any celebration in the office for even just a couple of minutes?
RR: Oh yeah. Any time the Giants won, there was joy. I remember Super Bowl 54 when the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14. That was quite a happy day. I remember quite a lot of Giants paraphernalia being worn around.
JB: How much fun do you have doing Fox NFL Sunday? It looks like an absolute blast!
RR: It’s been great! This is my eighth season and it’s a great group of guys to work with. I get to give those guys a hard time and they’re all good-natured about it. And we enjoy each other. We enjoy having fun and teasing each other. We enjoy the football. We enjoy the games and talking football. It’s a chance to do a comedy sketch every week.
JB: Would you play Terry Bradshaw in a movie?
RR: Absolutely! If they’d have me, done and done!
