Which Disney Character Will Represent Your Favorite NFL Team?
ESPN is hosting the Super Bowl this season, creating the perfect opportunity for the mother of all fandom collaborations. Disney and the NFL have designed new merch! Just before the 2026 Football season begins, fans can order official team merchandise with an official Disney pairing. So far, nine teams have been announced. Some of them feel perfect, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Captain Hook and the New England Patriots with Captain America. Others seem to be about team and character colors, like Darth Vader for the Raiders, hello, the Tusken Raiders are right there.
Here are the 9 pairings that have been announced
- Buffalo Bills- The Beast
- Washington Commanders- Ham
- New York Giants- Wreck-It-Ralph
- New England Patriots- Captain America
- Philadelphia Eagles – Doctor Doom
- Dallas Cowboys- Woody
- New York Jets- Buzz Lightyear
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Captain Hook
- Las Vegas Raiders- Darth Vader
The TouringPlans Team Weighs In
We have some die-hard football fans on the TouringPlans Team, and we have opinions! Derek is a Chargers fan, and he bucked the obvious choice of Lightning McQueen, going hard with Palpatine (IYKYK). Bob’s Packers are big and green, so of course, he’s thinking the Hulk. Becky cheers for the Vikings. The literal answer is Vladimir from the Snuggly Duckling, but Thor might sell more shirts. I’m a lifelong Bengals fan. Hopefully, they chose Shere Kahn over the adorable Tigger, but as a Cincinnati sports fan, I’m programmed to expect disappointment and will still buy the merch. As for Len’s Steelers. Will it be a gold droid made of steel, or perhaps a man in an iron suit that flies? Honestly, I predict the Chiefs will be Iron Man due to their colors, leaving the shiny droid who occasionally has a red arm for the Steelers. But time will tell. Len is thinking too hard on this one and missed the deadline. When he weighs in, we’ll let you know.
My family had a great time guessing the remaining pairings. If your family also loves Disney and American football, it’s a great topic for dinner-table conversation. If you want a cheat sheet, we’ve got you. Here are the results of the debate that reached the extended group chat. It’s entirely possible some of our choices were influenced by rivalries and personal favorite movies
- Miami Dolphins- King Tritan
- Baltimore Ravens- Maleficent
- Cincinnati Bengals- Shere Kahn
- Cleveland Browns- Mr. Potato Head or Mater (but really, we suspect they could get Chewbacca)
- Pittsburgh Steelers- C-3PO but also Iron Man
- Houston Texans- Pecos Bill (Ben was passionate and loves a classic) Jessey is another great choice
- Indianapolis Colts- Bullseye
- Jacksonville Jaguars- Kronk or Tarzan
- Tennessee Titans- Hercules
- Denver Broncos- Maximillion
- Kansas City Chiefs- Iron Man or Mushu
- Los Angeles Chargers- Lightning McQueen (Derek says Palpatine)
- Chicago Bears- Kenai
- Detroit Lions- Adult Simba
- Green Bay Packers- Hulk or Remy (cheese heads) Meg says Emille
- Minnesota Vikings- Thor
- Atlanta Falcons- Shan Yu
- Carolina Panthers- Baghera
- New Orleans Saints- Tiana or Louis
- Arizona Cardinals- Spiderman
- Los Angeles Rams- Phil
- San Francisco 49ers- Stinky Pete (Ben is making me write the Prospector)
- Seattle Seahawks- Sully
When, Where, and How to Get the Merch
The rest of the pairings will be announced as the season is about to start, sometime in August. The merch will be available on Fanatics.com, NFLShop.com, and DisneyStore.com.
What are your guesses? Do you already know you want the merch, or will it depend on your team’s pairing?
PS.- Our cover photo uses a DISNEY photo as the background
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Is Hamm supposed to be a “pork barrel” spending joke on Washington?
They could have easily gone with Commander Buzz Lightyear or a group shot of the Star Command group so that you had plural Commanders.
Buzzy and the group from Cranium Command would have also been a beloved/obscure choice.
Or you could go with a deep cut to Disney TV movies and pick The Commander from Sky High who’s costume is red, white, and blue and would have been a good match for Washington.
Skipping all the characters with Commander in the name and choosing Hamm really seems like it’s a wordplay dig at DC.
I’m pretty certain it’s because the team’s offensive line was once known as the “Hogs.”
My first Bears thought was also one of the Brother Bear crew, but I’m hoping for Baloo.
But if you’ve paid attention to the way our stadium negotiations have gone, you might have to choose Goofy….