About

Bro Thinks He's in "Top 10 Respectful Moments in Football" is a catchphrase used in parody memes making fun of footballers or soccer players performing acts of "respect" hoping to be featured in "Top 10 respectful moments in football" videos. Although some jokes using the phrase can be traced back to February 2024, it was after retired English footballer Rio Ferdinand's video of himself walking around Real Madrid's badge with the caption "Respect the Badge" that the meme's popularity increased on TikTok in early May 2024 as people recreated his viral video, often pairing the content with Don Pollo sounds.

Origin

On May 8th, 2024, English former professional footballer Rio Ferdinand^[1] uploaded a video of himself walking in the grass of Real Madrid's stadium and avoiding stepping the team's badge in front of him, captioning the moment, "Respect the badge." The video (seen below) amassed more than 16 million views and 45,000 likes in two weeks.

Spread

Shortly after the video went viral, netizens started to recreate Ferdinand's act of trying to pay respect to Real Madrid's badge, pairing it with the catchphrase, "Bro thinks he's in 'Top 10 Respectful Moments in Football'" and several Don Pollo sounds.

For example, on May 8th, 2024, TikTok^[2] user @michaelfifav7 posted Rio Ferdinand's video paired with the Don Pollo sound and skeleton GIFs (seen below, left), which amassed more than 5.9 million plays and 841,000 likes in two weeks. On May 15th, TikTok^[3] user @tirsocortijo uploaded a video avoiding Spain's flag on the ground paired with the caption "Bro thinks he's in 'Top 10 Respectful Moments in Football,'" which received roughly 85,000 plays and 9,900 likes in a week.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References