One meme at a time, he manages to bring fans together.
Lifelong Tennessee Volunteers fans recently rallied around a meme featuring Jeff Comeau’s expressive face, which became the star of the Jumbotron during an intense match against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.
Comeau, a native of Knoxville, showcased a wild mix of emotions as the match unfolded.
Not exactly a master at hiding his feelings, Comeau drew the attention of the keen-eyed Jumbotron operators.
In the tense closing moments of the game, the camera frequently cut back to devoted Volunteers fans, and Comeau was among them, clearly displaying disappointment as he crossed his arms.
Little did he know that all eyes were on him.
Post-game, he was caught off guard when he discovered over 200 texts on his phone, with friends commenting on his unexpected fame on the big screen.
As he left the stadium, fellow attendees pointed at him, some shouting, “That’s the guy!”
Unfortunately for him, one of those who saw the widely circulated video was his boss.
“I thought, well, the best thing to do is call in sick today. So I did,” Comeau joked.
The images of Comeau quickly became a hit online, with some being edited to show him wearing Georgia colors. Others humorously featured his expressions, like the one where he looked like a waiter at Red Lobster who had run out of biscuits.
People were commenting, “You’re my spirit animal,” he recalled, noting he received just as many remarks from Georgia fans as Tennessee fans.
Comeau has a long history of attending Volunteers games, but had to stop going around 2002. He reminisced about the one major game he missed, where the Vols triumphed over Florida in 1998 during overtime to cap their first perfect season in years.
Now, he tries to go when he can, often when a friend has an extra ticket, and he’s been known to call in sick just to make it happen.
