Friends' Geller Cup Thanksgiving episode represents the platonic ideal of merging sports and pop-culture

The Big Lead

The Nov. 21, 1996 episode "The One with the Football" is the "perfect 90s sitcom installment: moderately funny with relatable people in relatable situations completely bereft of any meaningful stakes," says Kyle Koster. That’s the point — to be light, carefree, to not accidentally elicit any higher thinking. To walk away with no takeaways, no concerns. And I wish I could do that. But I can’t. You see, there’s something entirely disturbing about 'The One with the Football.' The football. Come with me, won’t you, on a fun-ruining expedition to overanalyze art and sport not intended to be analyzed. The journey takes us to a place you’ll never expect — where tinfoil hats are needed, where the genesis of one of football’s most perplexing trends may lie." ALSO: Ranking every Friends Thanksgiving episode.