About
Jameis Winston’s Fumble is a photoshop meme based on various still images of the star quarterback for Florida State University dropping the ball in mid-play during their Rose Bowl college football match against University of Oregon on January 1st, 2015.
Origin
On January 1st, 2015, the University of Oregon and Florida State University football teams went head-to-head in the 2015 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California. By halfway through the third quarter, the balance of the game had already begun to lean in favor of Oregon (39 – 20). With less than two minutes remaining, the defining moment for Oregon came when Florida’s quarterback Jameis Winston suddenly slipped and lost the grip while attempting a throw (shown below), which was then picked up by Oregon’s offensive tackle Tony Washington for a 58-yard run to the touchdown, sealing their advancement to the final of the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
The match ended in Oregon’s 59 – 20 victory against Florida State, which also set a new record for most points ever scored in a Rose Bowl match.
Spread
As the game came to its end, Winston’s dramatic fall and fumble quickly became the talking point of the match among college football fans on Twitter, with several photoshopped parodies shared in rush delivery within the hour, many of them incorporating visual cross-references to other well-known memes in football fandom, most notably Lance Stephenson Blowing in LeBron James’ Ear and Randy Orton’s RKO (shown below).
That same evening on January 1st, Bleacher Report reported on Twitter’s reaction to Winston’s Rose Bowl fumble, dubbing it a “stumble-fumble.” On the following morning, online parodies of Winston’s fumble were scooped up by many sports news sites and blogs, including New York Daily News[6], New York Post[12], USA Today[4], Sports Illustrated[11] and the Huffington Post.[3] According to Topsy Analytics[1], “Jameis Winstons” was mentioned at least 118,568 times on the night of the game.
Notable Examples
Other cross-references to football memes include Manti Te’O’s Catfish Girlfriend, Odell Beckham Jr’s Catch and and Ndamukong Suh’s Kick, as well as non-sports memes like This is Sparta! and Lifecall Infomercial.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Topsy Analytics – Tweets per day: Jameis Winston
[2]Twitter – Search Results for ‘Jameis Winston Fumble’
[3]The Huffington Post – Jameis Winston May Have Lost The Rose Bowl, But His Memes Won The Internet
[4]USA Today – The 11 funniest photoshops roasting Jameis Winston’s fumble
[5]WSPA– Jameis Winston’s Fumble Sparks Hilarious Memes
[6]New York Daily News – Florida State QB Jameis Winston’s fumble vs. Oregon in Rose Bowl becomes Internet meme
[7]NESN– Jameis Winston’s Fumble Sparks Awesome Internet Photoshops
[8]Fansided – Jameis Winston Rose Bowl fumble gets Randy Orton RKO treatment
[9]Bleacher Report – Internet Memes Put Humorous Spin on Jameis Winston’s Horrific Rose Bowl Fumble
[10]Sporting News – Internet explodes with memes and jokes following Jameis Winston fumble
[11]Sports Illustrated – Jameis Winston’s fumble was most-talked about part of Rose Bowl
[12]New York Post – Jameis Winston’s take on Buttfumble gets meme’d
[13]Fox Sports – Jameis Winston fumble gets meme treatment