New Orleans Saints Defending Amari Cooper — Amari Cooper surrounded by four leaping New Orleans Saints defenders during an NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast.

New Orleans Saints Defending Amari Cooper

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Published November 15, 2026

On September 29, 2019, Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper was swarmed by four New Orleans Saints defenders on a last-second Hail Mary attempt that fell incomplete. A still from the play spread on Twitter within hours as an object labeling template, with Cooper cast as a person chasing a goal while the four defenders play whatever problems are closing in.

object labeling nfl memes football memes viral photo memes exploitable templates

Overview

Posts using the format set Cooper and the ball in place of a person or objective, then tag the four defenders as problems piling up at once. Topics range across work stress, dating, politics and personal failure, and the joke works because the real photo already looks absurd, with eight hands reaching for one ball1. Sportswriter CJ Fogler (@cjzero) seeded the template the night of the game, writing "You can do things with this" over the screenshot2 before posting his own labeled version minutes later3.

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The format stayed close to its original look. Users typically add two text labels, one over Cooper, one covering the defender cluster, without otherwise editing the image3. Know Your Meme catalogues it as an object labeling template that stuck to the single frame instead of branching into video edits or sequels6.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter
Creator
CJ Fogler
Date
2019

The play came late in a Sunday Night Football game on NBC between the Cowboys and Saints on September 29, 2019. Down two points with seconds left, quarterback Dak Prescott threw a long pass toward Cooper, who was surrounded by four Saints defenders when the ball came down incomplete. That night, Twitter user @cjzero posted a GIF of the moment1, then a screenshot captioned "You can do things with this"2, and finally his own object labeled version, which drew over 4,300 retweets and 12,000 likes3.

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How It Spread

Other Twitter users ran with the template the same night. @darrenelwood's version picked up over 710 retweets and 3,100 likes4, while @nick_pants earned over 240 retweets and 2,200 likes5. Twitter's own Events page collected top versions within hours7, and ThisIs50 covered the format the next day on September 30, 20198.

Coverage was mostly confined to Twitter and a handful of sports-culture blogs, since the joke lived inside the still image. By the following week, posting volume fell off sharply, and the image became a one-weekend NFL meme, not a lasting object label6.

Timeline

2019-09-29

Dak Prescott throws a Hail Mary to Amari Cooper under quadruple coverage from the Saints on Sunday Night Football.

2019-09-29

@cjzero tweets a GIF of the play, then a screenshot captioned "You can do things with this."

2019-09-29

@cjzero posts the first object labeling version; @darrenelwood and @nick_pants add their own entries the same night.

2019-09-29

Twitter Events compiles the top labeled versions into a dedicated moment.

2019-09-30

ThisIs50 writes up the meme treatment of Prescott's Hail Mary attempt.

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How to Use This Meme

The template puts Cooper and the ball in the "trying to achieve something" slot and the four Saints in the "things blocking you" slot. Common captions name a single goal, like "getting through the week" or "paying rent," then label each defender as a separate problem such as bills, work or family. Users typically keep the full frame intact, adding text overlays instead of cropping or editing the image3.

Frequently Asked Questions