‘Take it to the House Kid’ Ad Tops Them All

The NFL kicked off their biggest game in big fashion with one of the best commercials ever, and it was a perfect way to introduce the Super Bowl of the 100th season.

Just before the kickoff  between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs at Hard Rock Stadium, the NFL ran an introduction video that showed a kid playing football with his friends. Now known as the "Take it to the House Kid", the boy takes off running with the ball across the country making his way to Miami and the big game.

Along the way he's encouraged by the likes of football greats such as Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Ray Lewis, Christian McCaffrey, Joe Montana, Steve Young, and NFL legend Jim Brown giving the first nod. Everyone along his journey join in  reciting the phrase "Take it to the House Kid". The ad also featured  skateboarder Nyjah Houston and women's soccer player Carli Lloyd. The most touching and moving moment of the ad came when the young man pauses outside Cardinal Stadium in Arizona to gaze upon the statue to the late Pat Tillman. Tillman gave up playing in the NFL to serve his country and was killed in action in 2004.

The young athlete, that has been identified as 13-year-old Maxwell "Bunchie" Young, makes his way to the stadium flanked by 32 young fans, ages 9 to 13, who represented each of the NFL teams. The ad then switched to real time withe the kids running onto the field and Bunchie delivering the game ball to the referee.

Fans and players around the country praised the ad and took to social media to say how moved they were by the NFL's nod to the next generation of athletes.  For me, between the kid and the Google commercial the ad exec's did pretty well this year. For me, the ad sparked emotion in everyone on some level. Each generation was represented somehow with some much needed encouragement about our future.