NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core

NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core
Genre	Action Adventure
Format	Animated series
Directed by	Rohitash Rao
Starring	Joshua Jackson Sebastion Elliot Nathaniel Stampley Zachary Appelman Amber Renae Gray Marisa Kreiss
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (21 regular episodes + 1 television movie)
Production
Producer(s)	Courtney Franson Cash B. Lim
Running time	approx. 2:00 - 5:30 minutes (regular episodes) 60:00 (televisiom movie w/ commercials)
Production company(s)	NFL Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Nicktoons
Original run	September 6, 2010 – February 5, 2011
External links
Website

NFL Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core is an American Action-Adventure animated television series. The show centers around a 10-year-old kid named Ish (short for Ishmael), who learns he must protect shards of a power source called "The Core", hidden at 32 NFL stadiums. A television movie closed the first season, and perhaps the series, on February 5, 2011.

Synopsis

Ish must try to protect one or more NFL team's shard every Sunday while trying not to be caught by his mom. He must protect the shards with the help of OT and the rushers. ^[1][2]

Characters

Main

Ish - The protagonist of the series, Ish learns that he is the guardian from OT after being watched by him for a while.

OT - The strange man who explains to Ish about the Core, the Rusherz, and Sudden Death.

Sudden Death - The antagonist of the series, he planned on using the Core to take over the Universe and hired Ash when she was rejected as the Guardian. He was destroyed during the final battle for the Core.

The Gameballz - The guardians of Ish.

• Huddle - a golden football with laces for a mouth who speaks Spanish.
• Fumble - A light salmon colored football with a green mohawk.
• Scream - A traditionally-colored football with one eye, who is the more intelligent and tactical of the group.

Ash - (short for Ashley) Works for Sudden Death and helped capture Ish. She was supposed to be the Guardian, but the Hall of Legends had determined her to be unworthy of the job.

Shandra - Ish's mother. OT warns her that, as the Guardian's parent, she is Sudden Death's next target.

Secondary

Bolt - the Chargers Rusher, whom Ish met at the Chargers home game. He is a humanoid creature whose outfit consists of a white and blue football helmet with Chargers lightning bolts for a facemask and wears blue and yellow shorts with floral print. He was voiced by Zach Appelman.

Blitzbotz - Sudden Death's mechanical minions with one mission: collect the shards. They also have an arsenal of corruption footballs, which corrupt biological beings, transforming them into fellow blitzbots. 6 Rusherz had succumbed to this power, but were freed from it after Sudden Death's defeat.

Minor

• Norv Turner - the San Diego Chargers head coach.

• Sean Payton - the New Orleans Saints head coach.

• Mike Tomlin - the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. In the episode, "Rivalry Week", he can be seen breaking up a fight between Fang and Blowtorch.

• John Madden - retired NFL commentator, former NFL player, former head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

• Michael Strahan - Former Giants player, analyst on Fox NFL Sunday

• Jerry Jones - Owner/GM of the Dallas Cowboys.

• Shannon Sharpe - Former Denver Broncos wide receiver.

• Marcus Allen - Former Oakland Raiders running back, current ESPN NFL analyst.

• Brian Dawkins - Safety for the Denver Broncos.

• Steven Jackson - Running back for the St. Louis Rams.

• Larry Fitzgerald - Wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.

• Eli Manning - Quarterback for the New York Giants.

Rusherz

The Rusherz are a race of humanoid alien beings from a distant planet, who bear some resemblance to an NFL team's logo, the city the team is from, or from that franchise's history. According to OT, they were responsible for the creation of the NFL's 32 teams. They are all voiced by Zach Appelman.

Bolt - the Chargers Rusher, whom Ish met at the Chargers home game.

Alto - the Saints Rusher. He wears a Saints football helmet and a black-and-white striped hat.

Liberty - the Giants Rusher. As his name suggests, he is a humanoid wearing a Giants football helmet decorated with the crown on the top of the statue of liberty and holds a torch in his hand.

Beast - A humanoid lion who wears a Detroit Lions helmet, and the Lions' Rusher.

Freefall - A humanoid being who wears a slightly oversized version of the Seahawks football helmet, and the Seahawks' Rusher. Together with Talon, Swoop, Soar, Scavenger, and Peck, they make up the Air Team for the Rusherz.

Steed - the Broncos Rusher - Became a blitzbot while defending the Broncos' shard. In his uncorrupted form, he is a humanoid white horse with an orange mane and wears a Broncos football helmet. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated).

Rampage - the Rams Rusher - Became a blitzbot while defending the Rams' shard In his uncorrupted form, he is a blue ram with horns protruding from his helmet, a reference to the swirl design on the Rams' helmet. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated).

Pack - the Packers Rusher. He is yellow, like Blowtorch, but he wears an old-style leather football helmet.

Talon - the Falcons Rusher. He is a red and black humanoid falcon wearing a red Falcons helmet.

Freedom - the Patriots Rusher. He is a silver humanoid being who wears a hat with one star on it and holding the American flag.

Swoop - the Eagles Rusher. He is a silver eagle-like creature.

Stallion - the Colts Rusher.

Scavenger - A humanoid raven wearing a Baltimore Ravens helmet, and the Ravens' Rusher.

Blowtorch - the Steelers Rusher, who interestingly enough is a yellow humanoid creature wearing a welder's mask and a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet.

Peck - the Cardinals Rusher. He is a humanoid cardinal bird wearing an Arizona Cardinals football helmet.

Sonar - the Dolphins Rusher, and a dolphin-like humanoid.

Pick Ax - the 49ers Rusher and resembles a prospector from the Gold Rush era and wears a 49ers helmet.

Thor - the Vikings Rusher, whose face resembles the Vikings' logo, but his helmet has two horns on it.

Lasso - the Cowboys Rusher. He wears a cowboy hat and wears the Cowboys colors.

Arrow Head - the Chiefs Rusher. His name is a reference to the Chiefs' home stadium, Arrowhead Stadium.

Toro - the Texans Rusher, and a blue, white, and red bull-like humanoid.

Fang - A humanoid bengal tiger wearing a Cincinnati Bengals helmet, and the Bengals' Rusher.

Cyclops - the Titans Rusher, and despite his name, he is actually a blue Centurion-like creature wearing a Tennessee Titans helmet and holds a white shield with the Titans' logo in his hand.

Grizzly - A humanoid orange bear wearing a Chicago Bears helmet,and sneakers, he is also the Bears' Rusher.

Claw - the Panthers Rusher. - Became a blitzbot while defending the Panthers' shard. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated). He is a silver cat-like creature who wears a slightly oversized version of the Carolina Panthers' helmet.

Peg Leg - the Buccaneers Rusher. As his name suggests, he talks and looks like a pirate and wears a Buccaneers football helmet.

K-9 - A humanoid football player wearing a Cleveland Browns helmet, and the Browns' Rusher.

Zeke red corn - the Redskins Rusher.

Pilot Sonic - the Jets Rusher. He looks like a fighter pilot wearing a Jets helmet and has a jetpack on his back.

Greg - the Bills Rusher. - Became a blitzbot while defending the Bills' shard. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated). In his uncorrupted form, he is a silver buffalo-like creature with blue hair, silver horns, and a red headband.

Spot - the Jaguars Rusher. - Became a blitzbot while defending the Jaguars' shard. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated). In his uncorrupted form, he is a humanoid jaguar creature wearing a Jaguars football helmet.

Spike - the Raiders Rusher. - Became a blitzbot while defending the Raiders' shard. (He was saved after Sudden Death was defeated). He is a silver creature with black war-paint on his face and a spiked version of the Raiders football helmet.

Online game

An online game called "Rush the End Zone" is available at the website.^[3]

Episodes

Seasons		Episodes	First airdate	Last airdate
	1	22	September 6, 2010	February 5, 2011

Season 1: 2010-2011

#	Title	Original air date	Production Code
1	"A Hero is Born"	September 6, 2010 (2010-09-06)	101
At school, Ish is not picked for football during recess (something that happens to him on a regular basis). Later, while playing his football video game at home, he meets OT who tells him that he is just the person he is looking for and that everything Ish needs to know will be explained at the Chargers' home game on Sunday (which Ish and his mom "coincidentally" won tickets to). At the game, he follows the hot dog seller (Turns out to be the Chargers Rusher Bolt in disguise) and discovers a Blitzbot that is there to steal the Chargers' shard, but Ish defeats the blitzbot with Bolt's help and gets back to his mom unnoticed. Pilot Episode NFL team/s: San Diego Chargers Rusher/s: Bolt
2	"Legacy of the Shards"	September 13, 2010 (2010-09-13)	102
After school, Ish revisits the Chargers' stadium where he learns about the history of the Shards, the Rusherz and a powerful object called the Core; The Rusherz' home planet which held the Core was peaceful until an evil overlord named Sudden Death attacked the planet to take the Core for himself, but the Rusherz stopped him by drilling to the Core at the center of the planet and freeing it, destroying the planet in the process and casting the Core and the Rusherz into space. The Rusherz followed the Core to Earth, where it crashed upon landing and broke into 32 Shards (which are recognized as the symbols of the 32 NFL teams). Knowing Sudden Death would not stop until he had the Core, the Rusherz each took a Shard, built the 32 NFL stadiums to hide each one in and assigned the 32 teams to guard their respective Shard in those stadiums. If Sudden Death retrieves all the shards and rebuilds the Core, he'll use the Core's power to turn everything into Blitzbots. After the explanation, Ish meets Norv Turner, who takes him and Bolt under the stadium ground. NFL team/s: San Diego Chargers Rusher/s: Bolt
3	"Meet the Sub"	September 20, 2010 (2010-09-20)	103
Ish is lead to a secret room beneath the Chargers' stadium, where he meets his sub, a humanoid robot he will operate from a special control console to help the NFL teams protect the shards. Ish also gets a special pair of "guardian glasses" from Bolt. Later that night, he meets the Gameballz for the first time. NFL team/s: San Diego Chargers Rusher/s: Bolt
4	"Battle on the Bayou"	September 27, 2010 (2010-09-27)	104
Ish receives a lock from the Gameballz that can teleport him from his locker at school to the locker room of any NFL stadium in the country. With it, he goes to New Orleans, where he attempts and fails to protect the Saints' shard from an army of corkscrew blitzbots and a saw-armed blitzbot. NFL team/s: New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys Rusher/s: Alto and Lasso
5	"A Giant Showdown"	October 4, 2010 (2010-10-04)	105
Ish heads to The Big Apple, where he protects the Giants' shard from the dreaded flying blitzbot disguised as a group of blimps. Note: This is OT's third appearance in the series. NFL team/s: New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings Rusher/s: Liberty and Thor
6	"Mile High Mayhem"	October 11, 2010 (2010-10-11)	106
Ish's Mom (who thinks Ish is on the school football team) starts to get suspicious of Ish running off to guard the Shards. Later, Ish defends the Broncos' Shard from a fast-and-fierce blitzbot and a heavy-duty blitzbot during a Broncos vs. Titans game, but the defeated heavy-duty blitzbot uses the last of its energy to hit Steed with a Corruption Football, turning him into a Blitzbot. Thus, he takes the Broncos' Shard, and when Ish gets home, he is caught by his mom coming out of his locker. NFL team/s: Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans Rusher/s: Steed and Cyclops
7	"A Hero is Grounded"	October 18, 2010 (2010-10-18)	107
Ish doesn't tell his mom why he was in his locker, so she "grounds" him. Because of this, Ish is unable to protect the Colts' Shard from being stolen by a swarm of Free Football Blitzbots. NFL team/s: Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins Rusher/s: None
8	"Fantasy Football Bot"	October 25, 2010 (2010-10-25)	108
Ish finds and destroys the fantasy football Blitzbot disguised as Calvin Johnson while protecting the Lions' shard, but after he goes back home, he accidentally leaves his locker open and one of his school bullies goes inside it. Note: The bully that goes inside Ish's locker is the same bully that was picking football plays in the pilot episode. NFL team/s: Detroit Lions Rusher/s: Beast
9	"Air Attack"	November 1, 2010 (2010-11-01)	109
With his lock stolen by the school bullies who are intent on finding out what is really going on, Ish must get help from the Rusherz to get from school to the NFL stadiums to defend the shards. To make matters worse, his Sub is damaged while defending the Seahawks' shard from a massive Air-And-Land Blitzbot attack and the shard is stolen, despite additional back-up from the Rusherz of the Falcons, Eagles, Ravens, and Cardinals. NFL team/s: Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals Rusher/s: Freefall, Talon, Swoop, Scavenger and Peck
10	"Trespassing In St. Louis"	November 8, 2010 (2010-11-08)	110
Ish stands up to the school bullies and takes his lock back, but before he can use it to go to St. Louis, the bullies force their way into Ish's locker and end up going to St. Louis instead of Ish. The bullies find the Rams' shard, but one of them accidentally uses it to unleash a gigantic stadium Blitzbot. NFL team/s: St. Louis Rams Rusher/s: None
11	"Who's The Bully Now"	November 15, 2010 (2010-11-15)	111
The bullies flee from the stadium blitzbot and Rampage tries to hold it off, only to succumb to its barrage of corruption footballs and become a blitzbot. The Gameballz bring Ish to the battle and he attempts to stop the stadium blitzbot, but he fails and is forced to retreat with the bullies as the two blitzbots steal the Rams' shard. Worse, Sudden Death learns Ish's true identity. When Ish gets home, OT tells Ish to go to the pro football Hall of Fame for training. NFL team/s: St.Louis Rams Rusher/s: Rampage
12	"The Hall Of Legends"	November 27, 2010 (2010-11-27)	112
Ish "wins" a trip to the pro football Hall of Fame and is chaperoned there by Marcus Allen. During his visit, O.T. reveals to Ish the secret of blitzbots living among humans and begins to teach Ish how to harness the Rush Zone. NFL team/s: None Rusher/s: None
13	"The Guardian's Playbook"	November 29, 2010 (2010-11-29)	113
Ish continues his training at the pro football Hall of Fame by battling simulated blitzbots from different Superbowl scenarios that are initiated by pulling out special rings from their display platforms and is supervised by Pack and Arrow Head, but when Ish pulls out the last ring, he finds a secret chamber with an amazing discovery within it; the Guardian's Playbook! NFL team/s: Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs Rusher/s: Pack and Arrow Head
14	"The Return of the Sub"	December 6, 2010 (2010-12-06)	114
Ish returns from the pro football Hall of Fame, but starts to experience visions of Sudden Death defeating him. Thanks to the Guardian's Playbook though, he is now extremely skilled at football (and the school bullies now properly respect Ish). Later, he visits the New England Patriots and Wes Welker shows him his new Sub, the Sub 2.0. Unbeknownst to any of them, Sudden Death has learned how Ish uses his locker to get from his school to the NFL stadiums and is now plotting something. NFL team/s: New England Patriots Rusher/s: Freedom
15	"Ash Meet Ish"	December 13, 2010 (2010-12-13)	115
Sub 2.0. is put to the test when colossus blitzbots attempt to steal the Patriots' shard and it proves to be more powerful than the first. Later at school, a new kid named Ash makes a big impact at football during recess, and not only is Ash good at football, she's also a girl! NFL team/s: New England Patriots and Houston Texans Rusher/s: Freedom and Toro
16	"Rivalry Week"	December 20, 2010 (2010-12-20)	116
Ish realizes that he has a crush on Ash, but there may be more to her then meets the eye. Meanwhile, during rivalry week, tempers flare among the Rusherz in Pittsburgh. NFL team/s: Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals Rusher/s: Blowtorch and Fang
17	"The Agony of Deceit"	December 27, 2010 (2010-12-27)	117
A heavy-duty Blitzbot attacks a Dolphins game, and Ish is shocked to find Ash at the game, but the biggest shock is when it turns out that Ash is working for Sudden Death! Things get worse when Ash calls in another blitzbot to take Ish to the evil villain! NFL team/s: Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers Rushers/s: Sonar and Pick Ax
18	"A Dark Day For Ish"	January 3, 2011 (2011-01-03)	118
Ish is captured by Sudden Death and his mom, Shandra, discovers that Ish wasn't being honest to her about being on the school football team. John Madden and O.T. provide her with some answers as they escort her to safety. Meanwhile, Grizzly, Claw, Peg Leg and K-9 board Sudden Death's starship to save Ish, but after freeing him, they get cornered by some Blitzbots, Ash and Sudden Death himself. To make matters worse, Peg Leg has planted a football bomb in the ship and time is starting to run out! NFL team/s: Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns Rusher/s: Grizzly, Claw, Peg leg and K-9
19	"The Guardian Escapes"	January 10, 2011 (2011-01-10)	119
Sudden Death orders his blitzbots to destroy Ish and the rushers while Ash remembers how OT thought she was the guardian but was wrong so she joined Sudden Death. Ish then puts on his guardian glasses and sees an escape pod through a wall. He tells the rushers to get him through the wall so Grizzly runs forward and the blitzbots shoot at him, blasting apart the wall in the process. Ish and the rushers then get in the escape pod and leave just as the football bomb goes off, destroying Sudden Death's ship, but when Ish looks back, he sees the head of the ship fly off. He returns to the charger's stadium to find his mom with all the rushers and some NFL players and coaches waiting for him. The stadium's televised screen then shows the head of Sudden Death's ship coming toward earth, and Ish tells them all that Sudden Death is coming and that they will stop him. NFL team/s: All Rusher/s: All
20	"The Gathering Storm"	January 24, 2011 (2011-01-24)	120
The Panthers, Raiders, Bills, and Jaguars' shards are all stolen and their rushers corrupted. Sudden Death then targets the last shard, the shard of the Dallas Cowboys, but Ash is having second thoughts about serving Sudden Death. Meanwhile Ish, his mom, and all the remaining Rushers listen as Michael Strahan gives a speech. They then see a huge dark shadow fall over the stadium. Note: The two teams that made it to the Superbowl are the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys, when in reality, the Superbowl teams are the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. The New York Jets were defeated in the Afc Championship game and the Dallas Cowboys failed to qualify for the playoffs. NFL team/s: All Rusher/s: All
21	"Super Bowl Goal Line Stand"	January 31, 2011	121
During Super Bowl Sunday, Ish, the players, and the remaining Rusherz make a last stand to defend the Cowboys shard from Sudden Death. Positioning the head of his ship above the stadium, he sends in the first wave of blitzbots, which is easily defeated by Ish and the Rusherz. Angered, Sudden Death sends in a team of blitzbots that assemble into a super blitzbot. Ish and the Rusherz try to get away, but the super blitzbot crushes the Sub. Ish becomes uncertain of what to do next, but Shandra gets an idea... Note: Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones makes an appearance in this episode. NFL team/s: Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets Rusher/s: All
22	"Guardians of the Core"	February 5, 2011	122
The movie begins with the previous 21 episodes running from the first episode until the point Sub 2.0. is destroyed. In the present, Ish comes out onto the field to fight the super Blitzbot with the Rusherz and players. He does so by transforming the goal posts on the field into guardian bots. The guardian bots defeat the super blitzbot, but the final shard is revealed in the process. Sudden Death then comes out onto the field and obtains the shard, and it is during this time that Ish's father arrives to support his son, but Sudden Death mocks them both and reassembles the Core. However, he learns from Ash that what everyone thought was the final shard was a fake and the real one was hidden in a place where Sudden Death least expected it. With that, Ash helps Ish to get Sudden Death's battle axe and he uses it to destroy Sudden Death once and for all. After Sudden Death is destroyed, the six Rusherz that were turned into Blitzbotz are then returned to normal and as a flying blitzbot flies off with what is left of Sudden Death, Ish and Ash reassemble the Core with the real final shard, and celebrate their victory with the Rusherz and the NFL players. Later at school, Ish is picking teams for football during recess. A variety of kids are in front of him, but Ish picks a small child and puts on a new pair of guardian glasses. Season Finale Note: This is the only episode with a running time of more than 5:30. Also, this is a television movie. NFL team/s: Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets Rusher/s: All

Media release

As of May 28, 2011, episodes 1-21 have been released via the iTunes store for free download, and the television movie, which featured every episode, has since been released on iTunes for purchase at a price of $1.99. It has not been released for DVD, nor has it been announced if it will be released on DVD.

References

1. ^ Official website
2. ^ About NFL Rush Zone
3. ^ Rush the End Zone Game