Sonic & Knuckles Pro Bowl Edit
The 7th Annual Awards
- Best Short-Form Video
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
Capitalizing on Jahmyr Gibbs (Sonic) and David Montgomery’s (Knuckles) self-proclaimed nickname, Sonic & Knuckles, as well as Sonic The Hedgehog 3 releasing in theatres shortly after publishing, we collaborated with visual effects artist Josh Bayer to create a highlight of the two running backs incorporating game elements from the Sonic series in order to further the players’ popularity and drive fan voting for their 2024-2025 Pro Bowl bids. This video was the third in a series of edits we had collaborated with Josh Bayer on, but the longest and first to combine highlights from both Sonic and Knuckles. Collecting rings, knocking rings out of opposing defends, juking defenders into a puff of smoke, passing checkpoints at first-down markers, securing power ups, and ending the “level” after crossing the goal line all made for an impressively cohesive adaptation of video game elements into the game of football.
How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?
Within the sports industry, it can be easy to get stuck in a lane of making “sports content” rather than “content for people who happen to enjoy sports”. This highlight was a departure where we were able to appeal to the usual sports fan’s other interests and also bring in new fans by seamlessly and authentically integrating elements from nostalgic Sonic games in response to an organic nickname given Jahmyr and David. Lions fans loved the video, but many non-Lions fans (and even fans of Sonic that didn’t particularly care for football or sports) also engaged with and shared the content given the our attempt to give a thoughtful nod to their niche, normally unrelated interest.
Objective
What unique objective or goals led to the creation of this work?
Our goal was to find a unique way to call people to action for Pro Bowl voting by tapping into the passionate fanbases across the Detroit Lions, the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise, retro video games, and sports at large.
Strategy & Execution
This highlight was engineered to tie together the nostalgia for 90s video games, excitement for the most anticipated Sonic film to date, and the emergence of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery as the best and most dynamic running back duo in the NFL in 2024; the combination of the aforementioned elements helped lead to a surge in fan votes for the duo, placing both players at the top of Pro Bowl voting not only at their position, but across all players in the league.
Organizations
- Detroit Lions
Featured
- Jahmyr Gibbs
- David Montgomery
Credits
Neil Larson
Production Manager
Detroit Lions
Josh Bayer
Founder, Spicy Melon Studios
Spicy Melon Studios
Celebrate in NYC
Join us for the 7th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 24, 2025 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
