NBC's NFL broadcast baffles viewers by using Banjo-Kazooie’s Bubblegloop Swamp music

The final game of the NFL’s regular season turned into an unexpected retro crossover. On Sunday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers played against the Baltimore Ravens. People watching the NFL game were on the edge of their seats, but didn’t expect to hear a classic Nintendo 64 soundtrack from Banjo-Kazooie, at least.

In the second half of the third quarter, the game shifted to a graphic presentation comparing Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward’s starting stance to that of a frog, set to the Bubblegloop Swamp theme from 1998’s Banjo-Kazooie, playing in the background.

Color commentator Chris Collinsworth quipped with enthusiasm and said, “That’s right, he’s got a frog stance!” The goofy background music from the bear and bird duo’s fourth world caught many viewers off guard. Many millennials who spent their childhoods glued to their TV screens playing on the N64 figured out what they were hearing.

Snippets of the moment have flooded social media with many fans sharing their reactions. A user on X said, “No f***ing idea why this happened, but they just played Banjo-Kazooie music during a highlight reel on Sunday Night Football.”

Another X user said, “They straight up just played Bubblegloop Swamp music from Banjo-Kazooie on Sunday Night Football. I think we’re living in a simulation.” The conversation on X about Banjo-Kazooie’s soundtrack playing in the NFL game didn’t take too long to reach the game’s original composer, Grant Kirkhope.

He was bewildered and stated on X, “So this just happened. Thanks to everyone for pinging me… Unbelievable!” On the same thread, one of his fans asked whether his career as a composer was finally paying off, given that his music reached an NFL game. Kirkhope simply replied with, “I wish.”

Other fans joked that someone should have called him first before airing it during the match, to which Kirkhope replied with, “Ha.”

However, the question remains. How did a 1998 soundtrack from Banjo-Kazooie make it to the NFL game between the Steelers and the Ravens? Many suspect it’s just a production team member in their 30s who included some nostalgic retro video game music in the segment as soon as it pops into their head.

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