Flipping the Infamous Flop
UH alumnus Kenneth Cofer III (’24) teamed up with UH to turn his failed commencement backflip into a social media win.
A he sat waiting to cross the stage and receive his sports administration diploma during December 2024’s commencement ceremony at the University of Houston, Kenneth Cofer pondered how he would leave his mark.
“I thought about doing a backflip,” he says. He knew he couldn’t land the stunt, but he committed to the idea for the laugh and the memorable moment.
“I told myself, ‘This is going to hurt a lot,’” he says. “I really wanted to remember UH and all they have done for me.”
Cofer expected the video of his landing on his neck after he accepted his diploma to go viral only among his family. But when it played on ESPN’s SportsCenter and Houston Texans mascot Toro liked it on social media, he knew he had made it big.
About a week later, UH’s social media team contacted Cofer to create a video of his notorious failed flip montaged with another “attempt.”
His neck couldn’t take another failed landing, so he suggested they edit the film to make it appear he was flipping head over heels continuously before landing effortlessly on his feet.
“I wanted them to make me flip as fast as possible,” he says. The idea worked: The humorous clip became the University’s most-watched video of all time.
A he sat waiting to cross the stage and receive his sports administration diploma during December 2024’s commencement ceremony at the University of Houston, Kenneth Cofer pondered how he would leave his mark.
“I thought about doing a backflip,” he says. He knew he couldn’t land the stunt, but he committed to the idea for the laugh and the memorable moment.
“I told myself, ‘This is going to hurt a lot,’” he says. “I really wanted to remember UH and all they have done for me.”
Cofer expected the video of his landing on his neck after he accepted his diploma to go viral only among his family. But when it played on ESPN’s SportsCenter and Houston Texans mascot Toro liked it on social media, he knew he had made it big.
About a week later, UH’s social media team contacted Cofer to create a video of his notorious failed flip montaged with another “attempt.”
His neck couldn’t take another failed landing, so he suggested they edit the film to make it appear he was flipping head over heels continuously before landing effortlessly on his feet.
“I wanted them to make me flip as fast as possible,” he says. The idea worked: The humorous clip became the University’s most-watched video of all time.
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