Memphis Tigers senior wide receiver Demeer Blankumsee injured himself while celebrating a touchdown during Saturday's American Athletic Conference football game against the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners.
It happened with 8:42 remaining in the second quarter with Memphis leading 17-14. As Memphis had the ball 1st and 10 on their own 31-yard line, Blankumsee beat the coverage and caught a pass from quarterback Seth Henigan, running the rest of the way for a 69-yard touchdown to extend the Memphis lead. It was Blankumsee's second touchdown of the game.
After reaching the end zone, Blankumsee celebrated with Cristiano Ronaldo's trademark "Siu" celebration, jumping and spinning in the air with his arms crossed while ripping his arms apart as he landed. Unfortunately, his execution was off as he was off-balance in the air, forcing him to land with all his weight on his left leg. That caused his knee to buckle in nasty fashion.
Demeer Blankumsee with the long touchdown but he seemed to hurt himself on the celebration… pic.twitter.com/MTrylqKxWU
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) November 2, 2024
Here's a close-up angle from behind the end zone:
ain’t no way he hurt himself doin the ronaldo siuuuuuuu cele 🤦🏽♂️👀 pic.twitter.com/M935KgxUqP
— Devin Walker (@Devin_Walker2) November 2, 2024
Although Blankumsee did manage to walk off the field, he went down in pain on the sideline. No word yet as to the severity of his injury. We hope Blankumsee is OK, as that would be a terrible way to end his football career. Despite the injury, Blankumsee finished the game with 6 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns, which is still a great statline.
We have seen many soccer players injure themselves while celebrating goals, and there was that infamous Bill Gramatica injury as he celebrated a field goal. However, we rarely see football players injure themselves after scoring touchdowns. They all seem to have the same thing in common: leaping in the air and landing awkwardly. Here's our simple advice: if you are going to celebrate, stay on the ground.
Blankumsee's injury seemed to stall the momentum for the Tigers, as UTSA scored 30 unanswered points. Memphis tried to rally late, but they fell short as UTSA came away with the 44-36 victory.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
