What is That's Why He's The GOAT?

It is a viral 2018 YouTube clip of a Black man shouting that an unseen friend is 'the MVP' and 'the GOAT' with such force that his body shakes on the last word.

Where did That's Why He's The GOAT come from?

YouTube account T M posted the recording, presumably sourced from a Snapchat, on December 4th, 2018, and the original Snapchat caption 'Is this man okay??💀💀💀' is still visible in most edits.

What does That's Why He's The GOAT mean?

GOAT stands for greatest of all time, so the clip works as a hype reaction when someone wants to crown an athlete, musician or character as the best, with MVP acting as a close synonym for a single standout performance.

How do you use That's Why He's The GOAT?

Creators typically cut to the clip at the climax of a highlight or reveal, playing the man's shouted 'the GOAT' as the punchline, as @trixx_f1 did with Lewis Hamilton F1 footage in July 2022.

Is That's Why He's The GOAT still popular?

It stayed heavily used on TikTok through 2022 during the City Boy and Ranking Every X trends, with 2022 marking its visible peak.

That's Why He's The GOAT

2018viral videoclassic

Published October 27, 2026

That's Why He's The GOAT, also known as That's Why He's The MVP, is a viral YouTube clip from December 2018 of a Black man shouting that an unseen friend is 'the MVP' and 'the GOAT,' shaking so hard his voice cracks on the final word1. The video sat quietly for about two years before TikTokers began cutting it into reaction edits. By mid-2022 the clip was powering the City Boy trend and the 'Ranking Every X' format on TikTok3.

reaction memes catchphrase memes tiktok sound trends delayed virality memes accidental fame memes

Overview

That's Why He's The GOAT works entirely on the man's physical reaction. He starts seated, then jolts upright and shakes with each shouted word, with a Snapchat caption reading 'Is this man okay??💀💀💀' plastered across the top of the frame1. Editors cut the moment his voice cracks on 'the GOAT' as a punchline, placing it after footage of an athlete, musician or fictional character the poster wants to crown greatest of all time3.

Because the audio alone works as a hype payoff, creators splice it alongside sports highlights, anime scenes and 'ranking every' countdowns where the number-one slot gets the reaction instead of commentary5. The embedded Snapchat banner usually stays visible, giving edits a signature look that TikTok users spot immediately in a scroll.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (sourced from Snapchat) / TikTok (viral spread)

Date

2018

On December 4th, 2018, a YouTube account called T M uploaded the clip that became That's Why He's The GOAT, with the title matching the catchphrase the man shouts in the video, presumably ripped from a friend's Snapchat and reposted1. The uploader never identified the man, and the friend he is yelling about also stays off camera. The video sat at a slow burn for its first year, and the Snapchat banner embedded in the frame suggests the recording existed on Snapchat before the YouTube upload4.

How It Spread

Reaction posters picked it up in late 2020. On November 29th of that year, Rocket League player @Torment tweeted the clip with the caption 'me watching @Turbopolsa play rn,' aimed at the pro's performance, which collected over 890 likes over the following two years2.

TikTok sent That's Why He's The GOAT viral in June 2022. YouTuber Tok Plugg's June 26th compilation, which stitched the GOAT reaction into a run of City Boy videos celebrating men who turn down women, got more than 300,000 views within three months3. Within weeks, creators were using the clip as a crown-the-winner cutaway. On July 4th, 2022, TikToker @trixx_f1 posted an edit opening with the GOAT reaction and transitioning to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton footage, which collected over 135,000 views in two months5.

The reaction then returned in August 2022 through the 'Ranking Every X' format, where creators would list every item in a franchise and use the GOAT clip for whichever took the top spot4. On August 22nd, YouTuber v1ncent 𒉭 posted an AMV mashing the audio with Trippie Redd's 'The Grinch,' which attracted more than 9,000 views in a month6.

Timeline

2018-12-04

YouTube account T M uploads the original clip of a man shouting 'That's why he's the GOAT,' with a Snapchat banner reading 'Is this man okay??💀💀💀' still visible across the frame[1].

2020-11-29

Rocket League player @Torment tweets the clip as a reaction to Turbopolsa's gameplay, one of the earliest documented reaction uses[2].

2022-06-26

YouTuber Tok Plugg's City Boy compilation features the clip repeatedly and goes on to collect over 300,000 views in three months, kicking off its TikTok virality[3].

2022-07-04

TikToker @trixx_f1 edits the GOAT reaction with Lewis Hamilton F1 footage, popularizing the clip as a sports hype cutaway[5].

2022-08

The clip becomes a staple of the 'Ranking Every X' TikTok trend, used as the stinger for whichever entry takes the top spot[4].

2022-08-22

YouTuber v1ncent 𒉭 uploads an AMV mashing the audio with Trippie Redd's 'The Grinch'[6].

How to Use This Meme

The common convention is to cut from a buildup, a sports highlight, a boss transformation, a character reveal, into the clip at the exact beat the man shouts 'the GOAT,' using it as the stinger3. Posters often leave the Snapchat 'Is this man okay??' banner intact as a visual signature, and some crop tight on his face to amplify the shake1.