Whoa!

He has trouble with the snap and the ball is free.

It's picked up by Michigan State's.

Jalen Watts Jackson and he scores on the last play of the game.

Unbelievable.

we are talking about that infamous moment in October of 2015.

The trouble with the snap game, those 10 seconds becoming a Hallmark moment in the rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State on the gridiron.

I was here during that moment, and I was shooting footage of that moment right in front of us.

You... were sitting right here Take me through what was going through your mind.

Honestly, I mean, a lot of it feels like a blur, you know, like in the moment, it's har to even tell what's happening.

You're down here.

There's, people you're cramme in with all the other students trying to watch it and then just a regular punt, it's the end of the game.

Michigan's going to win, right?

Like, that's it, big win.

I remember looking up at this Jumbotron, trying to get the tim like, is time going to expire?

You know, if they tackle Jalen before h makes the end zone or whatever.

And sure enough, Dogpile ends up right in front of us there.

And I guess I was just in shock, clearly, right?

You could tell.

it's one of those plays tha if you watched it in real time, you'll never forget where you were, who you were with, and the feeling you had when it all went down.

With just 10 seconds left on the clock.

And Michigan seemingly on its way to a victory with a two point lead.

The unthinkable happened.

Punter Blak O'Neil had trouble with the snap and sophomore safety Jalen Watts Jackson did the rest breaking his hip in the process.

While the name of Watts Jackson lives in rivalry lore for that moment.

so does the face of then sophomore Michigan student Chris Baldwin.

October 17th, 2015. can you just take me through that day?

so that was my first Michigan Michigan State game as a student.

Yeah.

And you know, you see crowds, of course, people are going to come down here before the games for Michigan State, like people everywhere something I hadn't experienced yet.

Born from proximity and pride, the annual matchup has seen unforgettable performances and, of course, thrilling, final second, insane in the membrane plays.

The battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy is more than just football.

It's about bragging rights within the Mitten and a legacy built on competition.

Rivalries are a topic that Arizona State University professor Jeff Kassing knows a thing or three about.

He's the co-director of the Sport Media and Culture Research Group at ASU and has published an early series of studies examining athletes and fans a it pertains to social media use.

When you look at Michigan and Michigan State football, what stands out to you about that rivalry in particular?

when you talk about the proximity.

Ann Arbor and Lansing are very close together.

So you've got people co-located that kind of proximity intensifies the rivalry.

And then also, you've got that history attribute.

it dates back to 1898.

So then I would also argue, that Michigan's big rival is Ohio State.

So it doesn't hurt to have one of the teams involved thinkin that you're not their key rival.

The rivalry is definitely real, right?

We'll downplay it for the football game.

You know, Michigan - Ohio State, that's the game.

And I think we're going to stand by that.

But it's just very different, right?

Because we don't live around a bunch of Ohio State fans.

We do live and work with Michigan State fans.

When you became a student here at Michigan, the way you view Michigan State changed a bit, right?

Yeah, that's probably fair.

ther is, you know, a little bit of, looking down on Michigan State and that sort of thing.

we don't like Michigan State people and that's okay.

That' what the rivalry is all about.

You don't like me?

I don't like you.

And Chris' now famous "hands over the head" reaction is the perfect visual to highlight the emotion of this match up.

That reaction completely raw and authentic.

One that just happened to be caught on camera.

Immediately getting dubbed the nickname.

they called you Cobra Man?

Surrender Cobra?

Did you know what in the world that was before all of this happened?

No.

I don't even know where the name came from or what the origin is.

I heard different references, like a video game or just like a cobra snake Surrender Cobra now has become kind of a ubiquitous term in sports in general for when people do have their hands on their head like that.

When do you realize that?

Okay, my phone's blowing up and there's something more going on, than just the result of the game?

It wasn't about 'til I got like halfway back to the dorms, that I felt my pocket vibrating a lot more.

And I thought, you know, okay, it was a big game.

You know, people know I'm here.

I don't remember who it was.

I looked first or one of my friends they was like Oh my gosh, you got to see this.

They're like, We were all basically on TV.

And Chris Yeah, you're right in the middle.

You're the focal point with your hands on your head and like, everybody saw it because everybody was watching that game.

Chris was and is a fan just like the rest of us.

It's a reminder that sports aren't just about what happens on the field.

They're about emotions.

Passio and the connection between fans and the teams they love.

While athletes and coaches take the spotlight, sometimes it's the ordinary fans who end up becoming the face of, in this case, shared heartbreak.

What elements of Chris Baldwin's story allow him to become a viral sports meme?

it has all kinds of powe as a localized trash talk meme in a sport rivalry.

But it's also because of the look and the implausibility of what happened on his face.

It's got other kinds of traction elsewhere, too.

that show kind of the potential of memes to evolve over time and be reappropriated and not always in the same context.

If you can't tell Chris is as chill and unassuming as you can get.

He didn't try to capitalize on the moment and seek to make money off of this "meme-orable moment."

He went on living his life.

He graduated from Michiga becoming a software developer.

He also got married to his wife, Madeline, this summer.

A lifelong Michigan football fan, He's still a season ticket holder today, and nine years later, he's still a symbol of shared self-reflection for both fanbases.

It was a very interesting feeling to kind of walk into a room or down the street or whateve and like, bring joy to people.

It's a very strange like power, I guess, to have.

plenty of Michigan fans, you know, when they come up, it's like, man, I was doin the same thing in the stadium.

I was doing the same thing on my couch.

They relate to it.

I feel that so much, right?

Like they, you know, they, they get it and they know it.

And they, like I said, Michigan State, I am a symbol of one of the craziest and most memorable wins that they will ever have.

So, like what's not to like about that?