Move over, “Chase is on the case!” Cincinnati may have a new touchdown call waiting in the wings, and this one belongs to Tee Higgins.
The idea comes out of the new trailer for Coyote vs. Acme, where John Cena shows up as the menacing head of the Acme Corporation and borrows from one of the most familiar cartoon bits of all time. Near the end of the trailer, Cena’s character asks Tweety Bird, “What did you tee, what did you taw?, employing Tweety’s unmistakable speech impediment that will undoubtedly culminate in Tweety unleashing his patented catchphrase on suspecting moviegoers.
That line practically begs to be turned into a Bengals touchdown call. “What did you Tee, what did you taw?”
after a Higgins score? That’s the kind of crossover that could stick.
And if an announcer really wanted to lean all the way in, the response would be even better: “I tought I taw a Tee TD… I did, I did tee a Tee TD.”
It would be a fitting companion to Tony Romo’s “Chase is on the case!” call from the final game of the 2021 season, when Ja’Marr Chase caught a touchdown against Kansas City and helped spark Cincinnati’s 34-31 comeback win. Romo’s line played off Paw Patrol’s Chase, and it instantly became part of Bengals lore.
The timing works, too. Coyote vs Acme is calling its latest preview the “Final trailer,” and the movie is set to hit theaters on August 28th. That gives Tweety Bird’s old line a fresh run just as football season starts to creep back into the conversation.
And Higgins has given announcers plenty of reason to get creative. He has 21 TD catches over the last two seasons despite missing seven games because of multiple injuries. Last year, he finished 47th in receptions with 59, but still tied for second with 11 touchdowns.
With Joe Burrow and Higgins back in the mix, there should be no shortage of chances for a call like this to land. The two have been linked for years, dating back to when Higgins was the second player to congratulate Burrow on the field after LSU beat Clemson for the national championship in 2020.
So if Cincinnati keeps finding the end zone with Higgins in 2026, maybe the broadcast booth will give us the kind of line that bridges generations the way Romo did. And if that helps push the Bengals back to the playoffs and the Super Bowl, well, so be it.
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