People often remember where they were years after an historic event occurred. Those alive when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon can describe their location and what activity they were conducting in tremendous detail. Sports fans can often recall where they were when specific events occurred in their favorite team’s history. 

For example, I was eating breakfast in a dining facility in Afghanistan when Nelson Cruz missed the fly ball off the bat of David Freese. The Texas Rangers were on the verge of winning the 2011 World Series until that moment. The memory remains painful to this day.

Last Saturday, a new moment occurred that will leave sports fans remembering where they were when they first saw “The Walt.” I was sitting in the press box at Angelo State when I saw a post on X/Twitter by the Sickos Committee from the UIW contest against Houston Christian.

UIW quarterback Zach Calzada dropped back and threw a spiral to Jalen Walthall for a 50-yard touchdown pass. It wasn’t his best reception of the season. UIW head coach Clint Killough believes Walthall’s best reception was a one-handed catch against Nicholls. Interestingly, it was a different catch in that contest, where he high-pointed a ball over the defender for a 71-yard touchdown that was selected as the sixth-best play of the day on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

There wasn’t anything particularly spectacular about this 50-yard touchdown until Walthall reached the end zone. His celebration began by spinning the football on the ground, which has become his signature touchdown celebration. Then, he stood on his head, placed his arms at his side with his legs straight in the air, and fell to the ground.

The celebration instantly went viral. Soon, ESPN was sending alerts to cell phones across the country, and the celebration quickly captured the attention of the entire football world. 

Walthall came up with the epic celebration while speaking with his fellow wide receivers after practice the day before the game. He had seen a similar move in a 2007 dance movie titled “Stomp The Yard” and decided to try it. He made one attempt to practice the move before leaving the field.

After catching the touchdown pass last Saturday, Walthall performed the move, quickly titled “The Walt” by one of the university’s X/Twitter accounts. It instantly caught fire, with NFL wide receivers Drake London of the Atlanta Falcons and Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions mimicking the celebration one day later. “The Walt” even appeared on the Manning Cast on ESPN2 Monday night. As the celebration's creator, it’s only fair to ask the man who invented “The Walt” to grade the results.

“I was definitely a 10/10. I’d say that Amon-Ra earned a 10/10 too, but Drake,” Walthall said, then paused before proceeding. “I give Drake a 6/10.”

The main UIW athletics page on social media challenged fans to send in videos of their attempts at “The Walt,” and the responses will be shown on the video board during Saturday’s game against Lamar.

“I’ve seen some videos of the fans trying to do it. It didn’t work out too good for them. They weren’t wearing a helmet, either,” Walthall said before Killough added, “I hope they have insurance.” 

Speaking of the coach, would he try “The Walt” at the young age of 31?

“I would do it if I have a helmet on. I know I can do it. Jalen and I were doing backflips together during the offseason,” Killough said before adding a supplement. “I’m pretty sure I’m still young enough to do it. Although, I have this tradition where I jump off the roof after putting up the Christmas lights. Last year may have been the end of that tradition.”

Walthall agreed that Killough could perform The Walt, but both emphasized the need for protective gear, mainly a helmet, before attempting the move. As for Walthall’s next celebration, that’s remaining in the lab until he scores another touchdown. However, he said the “Shamar” dance was the motivation behind his next celebration.

While it has been a crazy week with multiple media interviews for Walthall, he credits his teammates for keeping him focused on preparing for Lamar to visit San Antonio at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“I have a great group of teammates who keep me focused on the next day,” Walthall said. “We have a 24-hour rule as a team, where we forget anything that happened more than 24 hours ago. We use that rule every day of the week.”

Will other UIW players attempt “The Walt” if the Cardinals score a touchdown?

“The offensive line is not allowed,” Killough said, laughing. “There’s too much weight up there for that. There would be injuries.”