Yesterday in football's NFC championship game, the Detroit Lions quite literally had the San Francisco 49ers in the first half. They were cruising, up 24-7 with just thirty minutes between themselves and the team's first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Of course, the 49ers stormed back, scoring 27 unanswered points before securing the win, 34-31. This made many people think of a certain meme.

Where Does "They Had Us In The First Half, I'm Not Gonna Lie" Come From?

On September 21st, 2014, a high school football team called the East View Patriots defeated their opponent school Vandergrift 42-41 with a comeback victory. After the game, a local news station interviewed the Patriots' running back, Apollos Hester. While describing his team's win, Hester admitted, "They had us in the first half, I'm not gonna lie."

How Is "They Had Us In The First Half" Used As A Meme?

The clip instantly went viral, racking up 11 million views on YouTube in nine years, and Hester's assessment of the game became a reaction image for years to come. It also inspired a schmoyoho parody, which in the mid-2010s was a sure sign of viral success.

Though you might not think so if you've only seen the meme used after San Francisco's win last night, "They Had Us In The First Half" is almost never used in jokes about sporting events. Instead, memers come up with creative ways to joke about how something looks one way at first but changes over time. It can be used to joke about both positive and negative outcomes. Some have used it to joke about historical events, while others have used it to describe a text post that takes an unexpected turn.

Since going viral, it appears Haster spent some time as a motivational speaker but has since been out of the internet limelight, leaving his Twitter alone since 2020 and going private on Instagram.

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For more information, check out "They had us in the first half, I'm not gonna lie" on Know Your Meme.