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James ... Flacco? Obama confuses quarterback with actor

Eric Edholm
James ... Flacco? Obama confuses quarterback with actor

You might have heard that Sony Entertainment executives decided to pull Hollywood satire "The Interview," starring James Franco and Seth Rogen that has been condemned by the North Korean government.

It's not a football story. But President Barack Obama made it one. Accidentally.

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Condemning Sony for pulling the plug on the film, and simultaneously wondering why North Korea would be so bothered by the satire, Obama mentioned the film's stars, Seth Rogen and James ... Flacco?

Actor James Franco (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Gucci)
Actor James Franco (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Gucci)

Yes, the president meant actor James Franco.

Not James Flacco, or Joe Flacco, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback, or any other Flacco/James/Joe combination who might be out there.

That, of course, led to some hilarious reaction from the sports world on Twitter and a discussion, of course, of whether Franco or Flacco or Obama were elite.

You might remember all the talk about Flacco's status — IS HE ELITE?! — after he signed that big-money contract with the Ravens following his Super Bowl victory two seasons ago. It was tired and overdone back then, but we're lucky to spin it forward in a pretty hilarious way now because of Obama's gaffe ...

And, naturally, the real Flacco had to chime in on this matter — and correct the president, ever so kindly.

No response yet from the Franco camp on this, at least not from the actor's official Twitter account (@JamesFrancoTV), which is just too bad.

This is not, we might add, Obama's first sports-related tongue slip. Who can forget his famous mention of "Kaminsky Field" in an interview with Bob Costas, talking about his supposedly beloved south-side-of-Chicago baseball team's ballpark.

(A personal note: It's also bothersome the way the president pronounces "Mizzou," which happens to be my alma mater, when Obama does his NCAA bracket picks, but that's a far more nitpicky and regional complaint that we can't fault him too much for. And, luckily for the president, the Mizzou hoops team isn't making the field this year, that's for sure.)

As for North Korea, it's a serious news story, yes, certainly, but a funny slip of the tongue added a layer of levity to the whole thing.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!