Ford Ranger was the official truck of Super Bowl XXXIII, highlighted by these three commercials.
This week’s “Throwback Thursday” video comes to us from the Classic Car Channel on YouTubeand it features a trio of commercials for the Ford Ranger from the 1990s. With the midsized pickup serving as the official truck of the National Football League’s Super Bowl XXXIII, it was the star of these humorous commercials.
Locker Room Talk
In the first short commercial, a group of football players are showing after a game and we see that one of the players is rinsing off clumps of mud and grass. It turns out that the player in question was a blue Ford Ranger.
Playing the D-Line
In the second short commercial, an offensive lineman from the Dallas Cowboys lines up, talking trash against his competition. As the camera spins around, we see that the attacking player on the defensive line is the blue Ranger from the first commercial.
Imagine the Roughing the Passer penalty handed out when you run over the quarterback with a small truck.
Open in the End Zone
In the final commercial, we learn that the Ranger plays for the Detroit Lions, which is fitting, with the Ford family owning the Motor City’s football team.
This commercial begins with the beginning of an offensive play by the Lions. As the quarterback drops back in the pocket, a coach on the sidelines screams about someone being open downfield. The camera pans to the end zone, where the blue Ranger is parked with all four of its doors wide open.
All three commercial end by reminding us that the Ford Ranger was the official truck of Super Bowl XXXIII, in which the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34 to 19.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
