Saturday night the NFL honored the winners of their major end of the year awards last night at the NFL Honors Show; a self-important television showcase of NFL players who aren’t in the Super Bowl.
There is a particular ridiculousness to the handing out of awards to all of the NFL’s losers the night before the Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the actual winners of the NFL. Putting that aside for the moment though, Conan O’Brien did an absolutely superb job with his nearly 11-minute opening monologue.
O’Brien nailed it, punctuating his more controversial and hot button jokes with more comfortable ones aimed at the obvious easy targets like the Browns, Raiders and Peyton Manning’s retirement.