''Terry Tate: Office Linebacker'' was a series of short comedy television commercials created by
Rawson Marshall Thurber
Rawson Marshall Thurber (born February 9, 1975) is an American filmmaker and actor.
Early life
Thurber was born in San Francisco, California. He is the son of attorney Marshall Thurber.
He is a 1997 graduate of Union College (Schenectady, New ...
for
Reebok
Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
based on a short film pilot Peter Chiarelli created in 2000; Tate was first shown at
Super Bowl XXXVII
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...
in 2003. The short films feature
Lester Speight
Lester Speight (born August 28, 1963), also known as Rasta, is a former American football player who has had subsequent careers as a professional wrestler and then actor. He achieved significant recognition for his portrayal of '' Terry Tate: Offi ...
as "Terrible" Terry Tate, an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
who "gives out the pain" to those in the office who are not obeying office policies.
Originally, Reebok produced six episodes between August to December 2002 with another episode ''Terry Tate, Office Linebacker: Sensitivity Training'' being made on February 1, 2004. Even Reebok in the United Kingdom made an episode called ''Late Lunch'' on January 22, 2005. There are a total of 9 episodes. The advertising campaign was one of the most successful of those in the history of the
Super Bowl halftime shows
Halftime shows are a tradition during American football games at all levels of competition. Entertainment during the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), represents a fundamental link to pop culture, w ...
.
The
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
s include "The pain train's comin'", "You kill the joe, you make some mo'", "You can't cut the cheese wherever you please!", "'Cause when it's game time, it's pain time!", "Don't bring that weak-ass stuff up in this humpy-bumpy" and "Woo-woo!" After tackling a worker, Terry usually leaves him with a "WOOH! Bitch!!!"
While the first episode of the series implies that hiring an office linebacker is a highly unorthodox practice (one described as "
thinking outside the box
Thinking outside the box (also thinking out of the box or thinking beyond the box and, especially in Australia, thinking outside the square) is a metaphor that means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. The phrase als ...
"), future episodes depict office linebackers as a common occurrence.
Though successful in attracting viewers and attention, the ads' ability to increase recognition of the Reebok brand has been questioned, with only 55% of respondents on an on-line poll indicating they realized the ad was affiliated with the company.
Despite being aired only once on national television, the short was downloaded more than seven million times from Reebok's website.
[
]
Main characters
*Lester Speight
Lester Speight (born August 28, 1963), also known as Rasta, is a former American football player who has had subsequent careers as a professional wrestler and then actor. He achieved significant recognition for his portrayal of '' Terry Tate: Offi ...
as "Terrible" Terry Tate (a.k.a. The Pain Train a.k.a. Triple T) - Hired by Felcher & Sons as an office linebacker. He enjoys his job, attacking his fellow office co-workers who are lazy or make mistakes of any kind. Terry is also in charge of office supplies; this is why all his interviews are done in the supply storage room which is his office.
*Michael Sean McGuinness as Ron Felcher - The CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Felcher & Sons. Terry's employer. Felcher claims that since Terry joined the team, office productivity has risen 46%.
*Jeremy Rowley
Jeremy Rowley (born June 12, 1978) is an American character actor, voice actor, writer and comedian. He is known for playing Lewbert on the Nickelodeon television series ''iCarly'' and Bunsen in ''Bunsen Is a Beast''.
Career
Rowley has appeared ...
as Paul Merkin - The Jr. Mail Room Engineer and a common target of Terry's wrath for offenses such as forgetting to make a new pot of coffee or farting in an elevator.
*Natacha Wenger as Geneva Stoller - A sensitivity trainer, she works for Sanchez, Steamer & Co. and is employed by Felcher & Sons to help their own staff work better together, but made matters worse as she took Terry's position away and assigned him to a desk, causing office workers to take advantage of her and act like children. Things were back to normal after her departure (she sexually harassed one of Terry's co-workers, causing Terry to attack her).
*Christopher M. Lee as Courtney Cate - Appearing in ''Draft Day'', Courtney was chosen to work alongside Terry as another office linebacker.
*Thomas Weaver as Gaston Du Coque - Hotel Manager; makes an appearance in ''Vacation'', highlighting Terry Tate's impact on the employees.
Original episodes
;Terry's World (August 11, 2002)
:An introduction to Terry's world. He slams into office worker Paul Merkin after Paul finishes off the coffee without making more, and then Ron Felcher gives a brief description about how the productivity in the office has soared after Terry's arrival from Reebok. Terry then puts more office workers in their places, for various offenses such as Phillip for failing to recycle an aluminium can
An Aluminum can (British English: Tin can) is a single-use container for packaging made primarily of aluminum.
It is commonly used for food and beverages such as milk and soup but also for products such as oil, chemicals, and other liquids. Globa ...
, Richard for failing to put a cover sheet on one of his TPS report
A TPS report ("test procedure specification") is a document used by a quality assurance group or individual, particularly in software engineering, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.
Definition
The official definition a ...
s and later stealing a box of ballpoint pens
A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali) is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) over a metal ball at its point, i.e. over a "ball point". ...
from him, and a worker for drinking coffee while not on break. His friendly side is also shown, as on office worker Jim's birthday, Terry kindly presents him with a birthday cake. Near the end of the episode, Terry himself is the victim of an injury after being accidentally hit with a mail cart, but he returns to work swiftly in order to keep everyone in line once again.
;Draft Day (September 1, 2002)
:Felcher & Sons hire a new linebacker, Courtney Cate, to work alongside Terry in the office. At first, the two have some "initial friction" between each other, but they soon gel and begin to work more efficiently as a team, jointly dealing out the pain to the co-workers who step out of line. However, the company made the decision to reassign Courtney to the company's German branch, Felcher & Sons Europe, due to salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
restrictions, and also because he made some mistakes (such as taking out office worker Timmy for wearing a Hawaiian shirt
The aloha shirt (), also referred to as a Hawaiian shirt, is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. They are collared and buttoned dress shirts, usually short-sleeved and made from printed fabric. They are traditionally worn untucked, but ...
to work, finding out too late that it was Casual Friday
Casual Friday (also known as dress-down Friday or casual day) is a Western dress code trend in which businesses relax their dress code on Fridays. Businesses that usually require employees to wear suits, dress shirts, neckties, and dress shoes, ...
). Ron Felcher then states that there is only one Terry Tate and that Felcher & Sons is lucky to have him. The episode then ends with Terry taking out office worker Phillip, for raiding the refrigerator and stealing someone else's slice of carrot cake
Carrot cake (also known as passion cake) is cake that contains carrots mixed into the batter. Most modern carrot cake recipes have a white cream cheese frosting. Sometimes nuts such as walnuts or pecans are added into the cake batter, as wel ...
.
;Vacation (September 14, 2002)
:After 1000 days at work without a single day off, state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...
requires that Terry must take a vacation. At first he dislikes his holiday (having problems opening his room's door with the card key, the small towels he is forced to use, and the TV set not working), but once he begins to put the hotel staff in line (as he does with his office co-workers), he begins to enjoy himself. The hotel's manager is pleased with Terry's actions, saying that he is welcome back any time and has been the best guest the hotel has ever had. However, back at Felcher & Sons, many of the staff have been taking advantage of Terry's vacation and acting childish without Terry around, but his return quickly gets the company back into shape again, with the end of the episode showing him slamming into office worker Gene for playing solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...
on his company computer instead of doing his work.
;Office Athlete of the Century (October 15, 2002)
:Terry is awarded the prestigious ''Office Athlete Of The Century'' award from ''OSPN'' (a parody of ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
). Throughout the episode Terry's earlier life is recapped. He graduated from high school as captain of the football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team before accepting a full scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
to Major University. He then joined a freelance mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
troupe
Troupe may refer to:
General
*Comedy troupe, a group of comedians
*Dance troupe, a group of dancers
**Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers
*Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games
*Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical performers
...
. It was during this job that he attacked a rude spectator who was talking loudly on their cell phone and disturbing his performance. Ron Felcher, one of the spectators, saw this incident, and decided to hire Terry as a result.
;Super Bowl 2003 commercial (November 27, 2002)
:This is a remix of the incidents from the past episodes, depicting scenes from the past episodes.
;Streaker (December 4, 2002)
:In a direct spoof of a similar Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...
ad, a naked man runs across the field during a soccer match. Terry appears from nowhere and slams him.
;Sensitivity Training (February 1, 2004)
:Office worker Paul Merkin accuses Terry Tate of assaulting him just for farting in an elevator, and in response Felcher & Sons hires Geneva Stoller, a sensitivity trainer. She gives out badges of shame
A badge of shame, also a symbol of shame, a mark of shame or a stigma, is typically a distinctive symbol required to be worn by a specific group or an individual for the purpose of public humiliation, ostracism or persecution.
The term is also u ...
to anyone who breaks office rules, and after Terry drives into a worker in his usual office role, she misinterprets this as an E11 situation, which prompts her to confiscate his jersey and demote him to a desk job. As a result, office productivity declines, and Terry is forced to watch from his desk as office staff all around him goof off and fail to do any work. However, after seeing Geneva make a sexual pass on male employee Pablo, Terry slams into her to put her back in line. After Ron Felcher hears about this, the company fires Geneva, and Ron Felcher shows how productivity had declined since her arrival, but since her departure things had recovered once again, with the help of Terry. The episode ends with Terry, back in his usual role, blitzing office worker Roger, who spent most of the episode using the speaker phone to joke obnoxiously with a friend (and whom he was unable to slam without permission during Geneva's time in the company).
;Late Lunch (January 22, 2005)
:A short episode showing how Terry tackles a worker, Roger, who returns to his desk late for work. His co-workers are less than happy, handing him papers that should have been completed 15 minutes ago. But Terry is at hand to get the worker back in line once again.
Other appearances
Spoof of Nike ad
In February 2003, Reebok released a commercial featuring Tate that parodies a Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...
commercial. In the Nike version, a streaker disrupts a British football
Association football is organised on a separate basis in each of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom (UK), with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within thei ...
match; in the Reebok ad, Tate tackles the streaker then proclaims, "You just did it, so I had to hit it". The advertisement was one of several competitive and deliberate spoofs between the rival companies.
California recall election
In 2003, Terry Tate tried to run for governor in the 2003 California recall election
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort span ...
, under the name "Lester Terry Tate Speight," but he did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.[
]
2008 U.S. presidential election
The Terry Tate character resurfaced in a series of short videos urging people to vote on November 4, including scenes that depict the Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
being (purportedly) tackled following famously controversial interviews.
;Episodes
* "From Russia with Love" (October 16, 2008), Tate tackles Palin after she answers a question from Katie Couric
Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...
about her foreign policy experience.
* "Reading Is Fundamental" (October 16, 2008), Tate tackles Palin after she gives an elusive answer to a question from Katie Couric about her reading materiall
* "Get Out the Vote" (October 20, 2008), Tate tackles a co-worker who states he will not be voting.
ESPN's ''Mayne Street''
In a 2008 episode of Kenny Mayne
Kenny Mayne (born ) is an American sports media personality who is best known for his work on ESPN from 1994 to 2021. He appeared as host of ''Kenny Mayne's Wider World of Sports'' on ESPN.com, and he appeared as a weekly contributor to ''Sund ...
's ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
parody program ''Mayne Street'', Tate appears to defend anchor Stuart Scott
Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, most notably on ''SportsCenter''. Well known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular ...
from an intrusion on his lunch break by an individual touring ESPN headquarters. Tate then reminds Mayne that people on his tour groups should not bother "the franchise" (Scott), and that this was discussed in a previous staff meeting.
2016 U.S. presidential election
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...
, Funny or Die
Funny or Die is a comedy video website and film/television production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a reg ...
produced an altered version of the 2005 video of Donald Trump's lewd remarks to Billy Bush about women that had surfaced during the campaign. In the video, Terry Tate tackles a body double
In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...
actor portraying Trump in response to Trump's remarks and tells Trump that's how he makes America great. He then turns to Bush and tells him he's fired.
2022 Hellmann's Super Bowl ad
This was a crossover commercial with Jerod Mayo and Terry Tate working the Hellmann's company customer phone support line.
References
External links
Terry Tate's Facebook Page
*{{IMDb title, id=0303402, title=Terry Tate, Office Linebacker
American football mass media
Internet memes
American television commercials
2000s television commercials
Viral videos
Workplace comedies