Production has just begun on Hallmark Channel’s third collaboration with the NFL. Filming in Chicago, “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story” tells a love story that unfolds amidst the diehard, rabid fandom of the Chicago Bears.
The third film in what’s become an ongoing series (the second film was set in Buffalo, “A Bills Love Story”) is anticipated to be every bit as successful as the first two.
Tyler Hynes and Hunter King Kicked Off the ‘Holiday Touchdown’ Phenomenon
“Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” enlisted the talents of Hallmark regulars Hunter King and Tyler Hynes. When they shot the first “Holiday Touchdown” movie on location in Kansas City back in the summer 2024, neither actor had any inkling of just successful the film would become.
Prior to the film’s release, the pair appeared on a panel at the summer 2024 edition of the Television Critics Association press tour to promote their forthcoming holiday flick.
Hunter King Has Always Been a Big Football Fan
A film that merges the NFL with a Hallmark romantic comedy was right in Hunter King’s wheelhouse.
“I grew up loving football, but not really having a team. I was a really big Peyton Manning fan. I don’t know where that came from, but I just love Peyton Manning, and I would YouTube his videos on how to throw a football. And then I was like, “I’m going to be a quarterback when I grow up,'” she said.
“And my dad’s like, ‘I got news for you…'” she jokingly recalled. “But no, I grew up just loving football, and wanting to be a quarterback, and being a huge fan of Peyton Manning, so for me this is such a fun moment to be like a dream come true. I don’t get to be a quarterback, but I get to be a part of a football movie.”
Tyler Hynes Admitted He’s Not Really Into Football
Tyler Hynes, on the other hand, had to resort to acting to convincingly portray a Kansas City Chiefs super fan.
“I’m super Canadian,” he explained. “There’s not a lot of football in Canada.”
However, he’d had enough positive experiences with the Hallmark Channel that he felt confident they’d steer the project in the right direction.
“But I mean in the last few years working with Hallmark, there is an enthusiasm, a sincerity, and a passion, and a warmth that seems to emanate from everybody who watches these movies,” Hynes said. “It’s kind of unmissable. And for me, not being a huge football enthusiast, it’s when this sort of human connection of everybody in the city that I started to come across, having gone there for the parade and having gone there to shoot the commercial, when you start to see it through their eyes, this is where it gets really interesting to me.”
Tyler Hynes Confirms He’s All-In on Team Hallmark
During the panel, Hynes could not hold back on his admiration for Hallmark and the particular brand of entertainment that results.
“Like, I really do love this brand …” he said of Hallmark’s collaboration with the NFL. “And making good things with good people is the only thing I care about, and I’m just very grateful to be involved with two organizations that are also doing that.”
