I can't believe this thread is two pages long and nobody has mentioned the player who was the initial inspiration for Key & Peele's "East-West Bowl" sketches: D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
FWIW, Ferguson's unique first name was inspired by the character Father Ralph de Bricassart from the novel
The Thorn Birds and the March, 1983 TV-miniseries adaptation starring Richard Chamberlain as that character. Ferguson was born in December of 1983.
I had suggested to my mom at some point that Key and Peele should do a sketch with real NFL players. Imagine my delight when they did. Even Aaron Rodgers got in on the fun and did it well, playing on another well-known Key & Peele sketch (the one with the substitute teacher who gets the students' names wrong).
This text is a link to Keegan-Michael Key telling the story of how the "East-West Bowl" sketches were born.
Here's a link to the first East-West Bowl sketch.
Here's a link to the second.
Here's a link to the third.
And finally,
here's a link to the East-West Bowl rap battle.