It’s not often you hear a story that combines comedian John Mulaney, Hollywood actor Paul Rudd, NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, and the Madden video game franchise.
But when you do hear that story, especially when Mulaney tells it, it’s worth sharing.
While giving a monologue to open an episode of Netflix’s Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney this past week, the comedian regaled the audience with a story while working as a writer for a Madden ad campaign. He had recently left Saturday Night Live and pitched a sitcom idea to NBC, which they passed on. Feeling dejected but needing work, he took the gig with Madden, where he was writing jokes for a series of ads featuring Paul Rudd and “a guy named Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens.”
Mulaney was not an NFL fan, so he had no idea who Lewis was or what had transpired in his life off the field.
“At one point — this isn’t even a joke — Ray Lewis wins the video game and then he stands up and he dances. And a guy from the NFL ran up to me, and he goes, ‘We can’t have that. That’s a sexual motion,’ Mulaney said. “And I was like, ‘Have you had sex?’”
During a break in filming, Mulaney found himself at the craft services table with “my head hung like a melancholy little Saudi prince who didn’t get Pink to play at his birthday party.” Lewis came over and asked him what was wrong. Mulaney told him about his failed sitcom project.
“And Ray Lewis said, ‘You must win your crowd.’”
“What?” asked Mulaney.
“You must win your crowd. When I went through what I went through, I learned I must win my crowd. Goodbye.”
Mulaney was confused by the advice and later told his agent about the interaction. His agent then informed him that Lewis had been charged with murder and fined $250,000 by the NFL. That helped Mulaney understand that he and Lewis shared a similar story of rejection, so he returned for more advice from the Ravens player.
“I was facing suspension,” Lewis said. “I went out walking one night. I saw a movie marquee. It said Gladiator. I wandered into the theater. The movie told the story of Maximus, a general in the Roman army who was betrayed…”
Mulaney said that he listened to Lewis explain the entire plot of Gladiator until he finally arrived at the conclusion.
“Maximus could not defeat the Emperor, but if he won his crowd, he would become the most powerful man in Rome,” he explained. “So when I got back the next season, I played harder than I ever played before, and I took us to the Super Bowl and we won the Super Bowl.”
Fired up, Mulaney called his agents and yelled at them, “I must win my crowd! We have to sell the pilot.”
Sure enough, they sold the pilot to Fox, and Mulaney’s show ran for 13 episodes before it was canceled due to low ratings and poor critical reviews.
“And it was a total f*cking unmitigated disaster,” Mulaney concluded. “So if you ever meet Ray Lewis, don’t listen to him.”
By the way, you can watch some of the commercials that Mulaney, Rudd, and Lewis worked on below.