Terry Tate: Office Linebacker was a series of short comedy TV commercials created by Rawson Marshall Thurber, for Reebok, based on a short film pilot he created in 2000; Tate was first shown at Super Bowl XXXVII. The short films feature Lester Speight as "Terrible" Terry Tate, an American Football linebacker who "gives out the pain" to those in the office who are not obeying the rules.
Originally Reebok produced 6 episodes between August to December 2002 with another episode Terry Tate, Office Linebacker: Sensitivity Training being made on February 1, 2004. Even Reebok in the United Kingdom made an episode called Late Lunch on January 22, 2005. There are a total of 8 episodes.
The taglines include "The pain train's comin'", "You kill the joe, you make some mo'", "Cu'z when its game time, it's pain time!", "Don't bring that weak ass stuff up in this humpty-bumpty" and "Woo-woo!" After tackling a worker, Terry usually leaves him with a "WOOH!"
Sexual innuendo is incorporated throughout the Terry Tate ads. For example, Terry works for Felcher & Sons, the sensitivity trainer works for Sanchez, Steamer & Co. (references to the Dirty Sanchez and the Cleveland Steamer), the mail room employee is Paul Merkin, and the hotel manager is Gaston du Coque (homophone of cock).
While the first episode of the series implies that hiring an office linebacker is (as it would be in reality) a highly unorthodox practice, future episodes depict office linebackers as a common occurrence.
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