‘SNL’: Tom Brady and O.J. Simpson Skewered in Last Night’s Cold Open

Saturday night, SNL kicked off the broadcast with a cold open that highlighted major stories from the past week. Host Kate McKinnon interviewed a GameStop investor before turning her attention to two prominent sports figures. She spoke to both OJ Simpson (Kenan Thompson) and Tom Brady (John Krasinski) and highlighted “questionable” parts of their lives.

Simpson was the first person to sit in the chair next to McKinnon, and he showed up while wearing an ankle monitor. The Juice sat down and faced questions about how he received the COVID-19 vaccine. “So, OJ, you got the vaccine?” McKinnon asked. The former NFL player simply responded by saying, “yep.” McKinnon continued with, “teachers can’t get the vaccine, but you did?”

Following an angry outburst by Simpson due to his ankle monitor beeping, McKinnon shifted the conversation to ask if Brady “is still working.” She introduced the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, played by Krasinski. The Jack Ryan star tried to explain that the success and the trip to Super Bowl LV was a “team effort,” but McKinnon cut him off and said that no one believes that there is anyone else on the team.

“My point is, you still work,” McKinnon said. “You’re supposed to win football games and you continue winning football games. You might be the only thing in America that still works.” McKinnon said that she would root for Brady during Super Bowl LV because “It’s not like you’re a weird Trump guy…”

The comment about Brady and Trump follows a weekend in which the six-time Super Bowl champion trended alongside Colin Kaepernick. Twitter users argued about why the former San Francisco 49ers QB essentially saw his career come to an end after he kneeled in protest of police brutality and systemic racism. Some said that Brady had the opportunity to continue his career despite “being friends” with former President Donald Trump.

There were several different opinions about this topic. Some people said that Brady was still in the league due to being a “better quarterback” than Kaepernick. Others said that the league went out of its way to blackball Kaepernick but that the owners fully supported Trump as well.

Saturday was not the first time that SNL poked fun at Simpson and Trump in the same sketch. The show previously used footage from the infamous 1994 police chase involving Simpson’s white Ford Bronco. The sketch, “DC Morning,” featured Chappelle and Ego Nwodim as news anchors.

The two anchors discussed the presidential election and how the news outlets projected Biden to win. However, the sketch took a turn when SNL used the infamous footage of Simpson leading police on a chase with Trump listed as an occupant of the Bronco.

Chappelle continued to narrate the slow chase, saying that there were more than a dozen police cars chasing the Bronco. He also said that Donald Trump Jr. was driving the vehicle while Trump hid in the backseat. The jokes continued with a fake 911 call from Trump Jr., in which he threatened the nation with a 2024 campaign.