Young Sheldon fans hail “the GOAT” as George Cooper video goes viral

Cameron Frew
George Cooper in Young Sheldon

After George’s death, Young Sheldon fans have resurrected a viral video that’s already amassed millions of likes on TikTok — and “it deserves more.”

In Season 7 Episode 12, George said goodbye to his family for the last time. It didn’t come as a surprise, considering The Big Bang Theory revealed Sheldon’s father died when he was 14. But it still hurt, with fans launching a real-life memorial as they try to cope with his passing.

Earlier this year, sly.ae shared a fancam of one of George’s best moments in the series. In Season 2 Episode 20, Mary invites Georgie’s friend Veronica to stay for a while because of issues at home; more specifically, her mother’s alcoholic boyfriend, Clint.

At the end of the episode, he appears at the Coopers’ door and demands to take Veronica home. He even grabs Georgie, which catches the eye of his dad. “You mind putting down my kid?” he asks as he swaggers over. Veronica explains who he is, and George asks if she wants to go with Clint or stay there.

When she says she doesn’t want to leave, he steps in front of her and tells him: “You heard her… thanks for stopping by.” Clint then asks him: “You really wanna mess with me?” With a wry smile on his face, George replies: “Sure, why not?”

The scene cuts to Mary in the kitchen, who hears something outside. George walks back in rubbing his knuckles and tells Mary she may want to call the police… because “there’s a bum sleeping on our front porch.”

The video then pivots to fast-paced, zoomed-in cuts of George across the series; looking perplexed, grinning, drinking beer, and reading the newspaper, all scored to Travis Scott’s ‘Nightcrawler.’

It was reposted on X/Twitter, where it was met with a flood of tributes to George, aka “the GOAT.”

“Deservedly so, we love protective understanding KING,” one wrote. “12 million [likes] ain’t enough ngl this goes HARD,” another commented. “George Cooper is like the Tony Soprano of our time if you think about it,” a third joked.

“I cannot fathom that a clip from YOUNG SHELDON can go this hard,” a fourth wrote. “George was too GOATed to remain. There has never been a fat man with this much pure Aura since Tony Soprano and they just couldn’t let that slide,” a fifth commented. “I can’t even lie, this edit goes hard, Sheldon’s dad is really that guy,” another wrote.

Before the Young Sheldon Season 7 finale, make sure you know how to watch Young Sheldon and check out our breakdown of the show’s cast and filming locations. You can also find other new TV shows to stream this month.