Last night, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid's team won Super Bowl 2020. Also last night, Wilford Brimley won the internet. Coach Reid, age 61, has a passing resemblance to actor/musician Brimley, 85, who has been in dozens of TV shows and films over the years, but also found fame for his commercials for Quaker Oats and Liberty Medical. To some fans, he will always be the guy who promoted diabetes -- or "diabeetus" -- education.
During the Super Bowl LIV broadcast, a viewer asked if the Chiefs coach was "the diabeetus" guy. Somehow the question found its way to Wilford Brimley, who had the perfect reply ready:
Yes, that seems to be the real Wilford Brimely on Twitter. He was just fine with being confused for Chief Andy Reid:
More than that, he seems thrilled to even be remembered by young folk:
Wilford Brimley's "diabeetus" commercials have gone viral and even became a meme, so the next generation does know him even if they may not always remember his name.
Wilford Brimley's career started in the late 1960s and early '70s from The Waltons TV show to The China Syndrome, Absence of Malice, The Natural, In & Out, and Cocoon. He was only 50 in 1985 when Cocoon came out, but played a senior citizen -- and he achieved meme status as the comparison for aging in Hollywood. Now an account notes when a star has crossed the "Brimley/Cocoon Line." He was diagnosed with diabetes in 1979 and spent decades raising awareness on the disease.
Apparently the Wilford Brimley/Andy Reid comparisons have been going on for a long time. Brimely is from Salt Lake City and I'm not sure if he was rooting for the Chiefs, the 49ers, or no one last night. Either way, at least Kansas City superfan Paul Rudd walked away happy. (Rudd passed the "Brimley/Cocoon Line" last year, to the shock of many.)
Wilford Brimley appears to be retired now, but now that more fans are aware that he's out there on Twitter, he might just win over a whole new generation -- and maybe they'll even learn his name instead of calling him Andy Reid or "the diabeetus guy."
The Super Bowl may be over, but keep up with everything premiering in early 2020 with our handy TV schedule.
