Adam Gase's Eyes

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About

Adam Gase's Eyes refers to a series of jokes and memes inspired by the facial expressions of New York Jets head coach Adam Gase. During his introductory press conference, Gase's wide-eyed stare became the subject of various video memes and image macros.

Origin

On January 14th, 2019, the New York Jets professional football team held a welcoming press conference for their new head coach Adam Gase.^[1] It would be the first time that Gase addressed the public as head coach (shown below, left). During the press conference, Gase could be seen making a number of wide-eyed facial movements and moving his head in what some considered an unusual manner.

Online, people began sharing photos and videos of Gase's movements. One of the earliest was CBS NFL writer Will Brinson, who tweeted ^[2] a screenshot of Gase with the caption "Adam Gase looks like he’s been drinking too much coffee." The tweet received more than 140 retweets and 840 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

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Shortly after posting the photograph, Brinson published a video of Gase, who can be seen darting his eyes around the room and jerking his head to the side. Brinson captioned the video, "The Jets brainwashed Adam Gase. Only explanation for this twitch." The video received more than 1,400 retweets, 5,600 likes and 1 million views in 24 hours (shown below).

Others online posted images of Gase staring forward, adding jokes and comments about his expression. Twitter account @MySportsUpdate posted a series of them with the caption "Adam Gase has his eyes on the prize.^[3] Literally. This is some press conference." The post received more than 2,300 retweets and 9,800 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left). Twitter user @JoeyLangone tweeted a variation in which they characterize Gase as a murderer. The tweet received more than 865 retweets and 4,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).^[4]

That day, sports writer Rich Eisen tweeted^[5] an image of Gase on the cover of the New York Post with the headline "Vision Quest," mocking the coaches expression. The post received more than 100 retweets and 900 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

That day, Twitter user @ManInTheHoody posted a video of Gase's press conference, photoshopping a taco emoji into the video so that it appears Gase's eyes are following the taco. The post received more than 7,100 retweets and 16,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Later that day, Gase was told about the memes on The Michael Kay Show radio show. However, Gase claimed to not know what a meme was (shown below). He said, "I don’t even know what that is. I don’t have Twitter, I don’t have Instagram, I don’t look at the internet, I don’t really watch TV, I watch movies. That’s it. The only time I get to know anything is when somebody tells me."

Several media outlets covered the meme, including The Washington Post,^[6] USA Today,^[7] New York Post,^[8] and more. Twitter published a Moments page regarding the memes.^[9]