The Los Angeles Chargers rolled the dice trying to make a funny and unique schedule release video on Thursday night. It paid off in a big way, but came at the expense of the Detroit Lions.
Thursday, the NFL released the full schedule for the 2023 regular season. Los Angeles decided to take an interesting route when it came to the announcement, releasing an anime video to list out the opponents for the upcoming season.
On Nov. 12, the Chargers host the Lions at SoFi Stadium. To reveal the Week 10 opponent, Los Angeles dialed up a “Gambling Problem” advertisement, poking fun at Detroit’s offseason issues.
In case you missed it, the NFL suspended five players for violating its gambling policies. Four of those players — Jameson Williams, Stanley Berryhill, Quintez Cephus and Mac McCain — were all members of the Lions.
Detroit has since waived Berryhill.
The NFL let Williams and Berryhill off the easiest, punishing the two with six-game suspensions. Cephus and McCain face season-long suspensions and must apply for reinstatement following the 2023 campaign.
Washington Commanders defensive lineman Shaka Toney also faces a year-long suspension from the NFL.
Los Angeles got plenty of attention for its troll job on Thursday night. The video made the rounds on social media, with several applauding the organization for taking such a harsh shot at the Lions.
It’s always fun to see the social media team enjoying the job. They clearly hit this one out of the park.
Chargers enter 2023 NFL season with concerns of their own
It’s always fun to poke the bear — or in this case, the lion. But the Chargers enter the 2023 season (and beyond) with some concerns of their own. Most of that stems from the contract situation involving Justin Herbert.
Herbert prepares to enter his fourth season in Los Angeles and, because of his success, is looking for a better contract. Right now, the two sides are in conversations about the future.
Team general manager Tom Telesco made an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show to provide an update on the situation.
“It’s certainly on the list,” Telesco said of signing Herbert to a long-term extension. “The fact that he’s under contract this year and in 2024, it helps… Obviously there’s negotiations that have to go on. The sooner the better to get something done, just so we know what the cost is moving into the future. So, it is on the list, something that we’re working on, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
We’ll see if it happens before the 2023 season kicks off.
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