Brian Baumgartner, Georgia fan, recalls iconic ‘Office’ chili scene ahead of Georgia-Florida

Actor Brian Baumgartner is known for his role as Kevin Malone from the sitcom “The Office”, but he’s also a Georgia fan, having been born and raised in Atlanta.

Baumgartner was on hand in Jacksonville ahead of the Cocktail Party game against the Bulldogs and archrival Florida. Before that, he had the opportunity to chop it up with Marty Smith and Ryan McGee on the SEC Network while cooking, naturally, chili.

Of course, Baumgartner’s iconic chili-spilling scene from “The Office” came up, with McGee comparing it to Lucille Ball’s “Vitameatavegamin” scene from “I Love Lucy” and Christopher Lloyd’s driving test in “Taxi”.

“If you had told me 10, 12 years ago, that I would be here with the 2 of you talking about chili, I would have called you a liar,” Baumgartner laughed. “But no, look, it’s a moment that means a lot to people. I think in some ways, it represents the show, in a way. It’s about ordinary people doing things, trying to excel at something, simple. It doesn’t work out that day for Kevin, but I like to think he makes it the next year and everybody gets to enjoy it.”

At least Kevin didn’t drop the chili ?

The Office legend @BBBaumgartner joins @MartySmithESPN and @ESPNMcGee! pic.twitter.com/dea093FZ0g

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 29, 2022

Later, Baumgartner had a chance to dump chili on SEC Nation’s SEC superfan of the week, instead of the traditional Gatorade bath, as you can see below:

It’s only fitting for @BBBaumgartner to dump chili on this Georgia superfan ? pic.twitter.com/cPF8uFE4Jp

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 29, 2022

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.