Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence stretches far beyond football.
Regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he has won countless trophies on the pitch, and set records off of it with his incredible social media following.
His iconic “Siuuu” celebration is also replicated across the world and will no doubt be seen long after Ronaldo himself retires.
Other sports stars have even been known to give the celebration a go, but this weekend, it didn’t work out as planned for one college football player.
University of Memphis wide receiver Demeer Blankumsee was dominating for the Tigers and after scoring a 69-yard touchdown against the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Roadrunners, decided to hit Ronaldo’s celly in the end zone.
But he landed awkwardly after jumping for the “Siuuu” and his knee buckled backwards.
Blankumsee was then seen laying down injured on the sidelines.
His apparent injury came in the second quarter when the Tigers were leading 24-14 thanks to his TD.
Blankumsee only returned briefly in the second half but did not record any more catches.
To add insult to injury, the Roadrunners mounted an unlikely comeback to win the game 44-36.
UTSA scored 27 unanswered points as the Memphis offense stalled out for most of second half.
Despite going off injured, Blankumsee led the Tigers in receiving yards with six catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns during his time on the field.
He also appeared to reference the incident on social media after the game.
After he shared a clip of his touchdown on X, a fan asked Blankumsee if he was doing okay and said the team needs him “the rest of the way.”
“Absolutely, we’ll be back ‘n’ better as a team,” the wide receiver responded.
The team’s slim hopes to make the College Football Playoff – and their chance to play for the AAC Championship – all but officially came to an end with the loss to UTSA.
The Tigers dropped their second game in conference play, and fell to 7-2 on the season and 3-2 in the American Athletic Conference.
Memphis have a chance to bounce back when they take on Rice University on Friday night.
