The NFL returned to Netflix for their annual Christmas Day showcase. And while much of America might still be getting used to football games on the streamer, Ian Eagle found the perfect way to bring the two together with an incredible nod to Stranger Things.
The Netflix young adult sci-fi phenomenon based in the 1980s is now in its final season, with the last episodes taking place over the holiday season being released in batches. It ends a journey that began all the way back in 2016 and has taken almost a decade to come to a conclusion over its five seasons.
Given the sizable gaps in between seasons, one of the things that has emerged as a meme this fall is just how much the stars of Stranger Things have aged since the show began nine years ago.
So as he welcomed viewers to the NFL on Netflix, Ian Eagle had the perfect introduction inspired by those memes as he was joined by Nate Burleson and J.J. Watt in the broadcast booth.
“Ian Eagle, J.J. Watt, Nate Burleson, I don’t know if someone is tuning into Netflix right now and thinking, ‘the kids from Stranger Things got really old,” the venerable play-by-play man said.
He does have a point, though. Millie Bobby Brown, who stars as Eleven, is now 21 years old, married, and has a child. We got eight Harry Potter movies over a similar timeframe as a frame of reference, and at least that covered seven years at Hogwarts.
Now we’re left to wonder what Stranger Things kid Ian Eagle would have been. Mike? Dustin? Will Byers? And if that’s the case… who could Noah Eagle possibly be? Maybe that’s what the Upside Down is for, after all.
About Matt Yoder