It’s not often you can point to the host of the 2024 NFL Honors ceremony and say, “Now, that person should host the Academy Awards.”
However, that’s how good Keegan-Michael Key was at hosting this year’s NFL awards ceremony.
From his absolutely biting-yet-genial monologue to actually clever bits with the audience, Key managed Thursday night’s awards show with an effortless charm.
He kept the show rolling, got the audience genuinely engaged in the ceremony and knew exactly how to nail those little transitional moments in the awards that people take for granted when watching broadcasts like this.
Hosting an awards show can be one of the toughest jobs in show business, but Key earned an A+ for hosting a football awards show. Imagine what he could do with the Oscars.
Keegan-Michael Key's #NFLHonors monologue 😂 @KeeganMKey
📺: #NFLHonors on CBS & NFLN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/quhu9JB4AO— NFL (@NFL) February 9, 2024
There comes a time, after you’ve watched so many awards shows over the years, where you really value the good hosts.
Key’s genuine excitement for the moment certainly helped, as he used his Detroit Lions fandom and general understanding of the NFL to deliver a monologue that got in the right digs at the right people.
Using Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s status as a couple as a conduit to poke fun at Bill Belichick is the kind of unexpectedly hysterical monologue joke that shows like the Oscars are desperate to find.
Comedian Trevor Noah has long earned raves for his Grammys emcee work for this same reason: the vibes are affable, the jokes are smart, the genuine passion for the occasion shows through the performance.
In contrast, comedian Jo Koy’s Golden Globes hosting duties earned wide jeers because his monologue was awful, and he didn’t know how to navigate the room when those jokes weren’t working.
Hosting the Oscars is incredibly tricky, as people have soared and bombed in equal measure. If the Academy wants to see someone absolutely nail a typically static awards show, look at how well Key did on Thursday night.
While comedian John Mulaney might be atop many wish lists in the industry, Key really should be in major consideration in the future.
He knows the movie world, and he’d know how to find the right jokes for the room that are actually funny and find a nice balance between satire and goodwill.
Let’s give Jimmy Kimmel a break and get one of the great sketch comics of the 2010s and one of the industry’s most likable people in as 2025’s Oscar host. Key absolutely deserves it after such a brilliant turn at the NFL Honors.
