Q&A: Keegan-Michael Key talks Bush's Beans bowl game, Lions, Oscars

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Keegan-Michael Key can literally host anything, even a college bowl game sponsored by Bush’s Beans.

Key, one part of the legendary Key & Peele comedy duo he formed with Oscar winner Jordan Peele, proved his incredible hosting abilities at 2024’s NFL Honors ceremony. He’s bound to do an Oscars show one day. Now, he’ll work as the spokesperson for the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans game at Florida Atlantic University on Tuesday.

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“The whole day, it’s going to be as much about celebrating this wonderful bean energy that we’re putting out into the world as much as it is college football,” Key told For the Win about the bowl game. “Bush’s is a traditional family business. We’re talking about one of the oldest sports in America, one of the most traditional sports in America is college football. I thought it was a wonderful marriage, and I wanted to be part of it.”

This week’s bowl game clash between Louisville and Toledo will attempt to bring together college football and/or baked beans fans to create the “world’s biggest bowl of baked beans.” The Boca Raton Bowl of Beans game will also be the only football game this holiday season where the first 2,000 fans can gain admission to Tuesday’s contest by bringing a single can of Bush’s Beans that will be donated to a family in need, per the company.

A halftime ceremony to create said “biggest bowl of baked beans” will involve complimentary “Beans All Over” bucket hats. The trophy will literally feature a steaming pot of baked beans. Leaning this hard into the sponsorship bit can only be rivaled by the Pop-Tarts Bowl and the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. The baked beans love really is palpable.

We caught up with Key about his bean emcee duties, what made his NFL Awards hosting gig go so well, how he’d approach hosting the Oscars, his Detroit Lions fandom and where you can see his influence in Peele’s films.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarityand was conducted before Sunday’s Lions loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

How did you get involved in this unique bowl game partnership?

Unique is absolutely the word for it, and that was why I got involved. I’m going to be kind of the toastmaster general, or the emcee, or representative for the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans. The concept was brought to us. I was really excited about it. They’re really leaning into the branding. We’re going to do lots of fun activities during the games. I’m a huge college football fan, so I was like, “I’m in. Let’s do this thing.”

What was the secret to your hosting success with the NFL Awards in 2024?

I think, really, to be quite honest with you, it’s my team. It’s the team around me and my partner. We have a real synergy working together. Much like on Dec. 23 for the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans, my big thing is getting excited about the thing you’re doing. We’re more about lifting up than we are about punching down. Yes, there are jokes, and we have a little fun sometimes, but… what was most important to us was celebrating football. It was celebrating these people and the fact that they’re being honored and that they’re working at the highest level of skill possible, and that they also enjoy what they’re doing. That I would say was the key ingredient to why it worked, that they see my genuine excitement about the product. 

If you did get the Oscars gig one day, what would be your approach to hosting that show?

The same thing. … It’s the concept that we’re here because we love it, and we’re celebrating it. I want people to have as much fun during the broadcast and imbue it with as much fun as they do with solemnity when they do the memoriam. You know? We all go, “Oh, right.” You want ’em to have as much fun when they think about the movie, you go, “That movie affected me. That movie is why I’m here today.” It’s always bringing that positive energy, that joy. That’s our brand. 

What has it been like to watch your Detroit Lions this season, during a time where the team’s success had led to some tough transitions?

Looking at the season we’re having after the two previous seasons, the first thing I thought was, “Holy mackerel, what the Kansas City Chiefs have done in the last seven years is actually miraculous.” The fact that you would be, or the Patriots for almost two straight decades, that seems impossible… I see [now] how difficult it is to maintain this kind of excellence for any sustainable period of time… It’s a real testament to the abilities and talents of the front offices of very particular teams. I count our team amongst those. Right now, hey, we had a hard season, tough schedule. It shows we still could make it. Math has to go our way. But, boy, it makes me really appreciate those other teams. 

What has it been like to watch the NFC North evolve the way it has, knowing that it’s always competitive and the Lions are now at the forefront of it?

It’s nice to know that, when you have four quality teams because Minnesota can jump on you at any time, when you’ve got four quality teams, that if you do come out of that division and go to the playoffs, I think you have as much a chance of moving forward and making a deep run as any other team in the entire NFL, let alone the NFC. 

How do you feel like your partnership with Jordan Peele helped influence his cinematic language as one of the great auteurs of the 21st century?

I think the best way I would be able to answer that question is say that, I mean, sometimes when we communicate, he’ll think of something that he thinks I will find funny. If that’s on his mind, then it must find its way into his work. I would say that’s probably the biggest influence. It’s just also very sweet that he’s thinking about me, and he goes, “Huh, Keegan would find that funny.” Sometimes, it finds its way, it weaves its way into what he does.

As a fan, how do you feel about the Penn State coaching decision?

I think that Matt [Campbell] could be a very good fit for us. I think it’s nice to have new blood, fresh blood. I’m all for that. Listen, I’m the biggest James Franklin fan, as I’m sure you know. [laughs] If the AD deemed that it was time for a change, then so be it. I think to take someone who turned a program around, I mean, really turned that Iowa State program around. Perhaps he’s the guy that can get us into this finishing mindset that can make us finish and win the Big Ten and make another deep run into the playoff. I have high hopes. Hopes brings eternal, and more power to him. 

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Keegan-Michael Key talks Boca Raton Bowl, Lions, Oscars

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