Former Syracuse football star Justin Pugh is reaping the rewards after a joke intro on “Sunday Night Football.”
Pugh, an offensive lineman for the New York Giants, said he was coming “straight off the couch” last week for his first NFL action in a year. He tore his ACL with the Arizona Cardinals last fall and underwent knee surgery, sidelining him until earlier this month.
Normally players say what school they went to during TV intros, so not saying “Syracuse University” caught the attention of viewers nationwide. As a result, Pugh is turning the catchphrase into a T-shirt and an endorsement.
Fans can get “Straight off the couch” shirts from breakingt.com, featuring the Giants’ blue, red and white colors, for $32. Pugh and some of his teammates have been seen wearing it this past week.
“Straight off the couch, straight to the @lovesac, Straight to a Victory Monday,” Pugh wrote on Twitter and Instagram with a photo of him wearing the shirt and sitting on a bean bag-like cushion.
“You on a Sac + a @nygiants win. Coincidence?” responded @lovesac, a furniture company that specializes in couches and its original nylon sac dubbed the “Lovesac.” (The company also sells a “BigBlueOne” sack cover that fits Giants fan decor well.)
“Sounds like it was meant to be,” added Pugh’s wife Ange.
Financial details of the ad have not been disclosed, but in a game where quarterbacks and other playmakers are often the stars, it’s a unique opportunity for a lineman to monetize a little bit of fame.
And it all started with an honest re-introduction to the league.
“I truly was watching last ‘Sunday Night Football’ on the couch,” Pugh told media last week. “It just hit me, like, I was a fan last week watching football. How many times can you be a fan watching your favorite team, the New York Giants, and the next Sunday you get to go play for that team on ‘Sunday Night Football’?
“I really came straight off the couch and started on ‘Sunday…
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