Throughout its run, Key & Peele always seemed to leave a space for sports fans, a testament to the fandom of hosts Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key. The show explored everything from why basketball players slap one another’s butts to the tragedy of brain injuries for NFL players, to most famously why football broadcasts have little videos of players introducing themselves and their colleges.
That came in “East/West College Bowl,” which many rank among the best sketches in the show’s run and which Key broke down in an episode of 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt over at The Ringer this week.
According to Key, the idea for the sketch came after watching a broadcast in which the Hall of Famer Charles Woodson, rather than stating that he went to the University of Michigan simply said, “you know the school” with some gusto. The admittedly silly line inspired Peele to then write up the entire sketch full of names like “Jackmerius Tacktheritrix” that get more absurd as the sketch (and its sequels) go along.
If you loved the 'Key & Peele' East/West College Bowl skit, you'll want to thank @CharlesWoodson. Hear @KeeganMKey tell the full story on '#10Questions With @KyleBrandt' here: pic.twitter.com/SJECpZqS5C
— The Ringer (@ringer) February 10, 2021
Even funnier, Key describes how Peele was not even a football fan when they wrote the sketch, but had discovered by way of playing Madden that there existed a player named D’Brickashaw Ferguson, to which Key replied, “Have you heard of the SEC?” And thus, a beloved sketch was born.
