In the realms of sports TikTok, a fresh trend has surfaced, echoing past gut-wrenching matches. Have you ever found yourself thinking, “That player truly tortured my team”? With the NFL and English Premier League back in action, supporters are reminiscing about players who consistently spoiled their weekends. This meme category, informally dubbed “football terrorist,” comes to life through darkly humorous TikTok memes.
These SportsTok compilations merge lowlight reels of such athletes with footage of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Indeed, this is genuine. The edits feature not only Saddam clips but are also accompanied by a nasheed titled “Al Qawlu Qawlu Sawarim” by Abu Ali, released in 2000. Nasheeds are classic Islamic chants, and this particular one, according to translations, was intended as a battle anthem. Sports TikTok has reinvented it as the soundtrack to your team’s worst fears.
The label “football terrorist” generally divides into two classifications. First are the players or teams that inflict pain through ineptitude — like Eli Apple getting torched in coverage, Andre Onana conceding goals at Manchester United, or the unending sadness of Cleveland Browns supporters. Then there are the players so dominant against specific rivals that they might as well own them: Aaron Rodgers humiliating the Bears, Tom Brady ruling the AFC East for twenty years, or Alabama college football from 2008-2023.
And it extends beyond football. The NBA saw this during the 2024 playoffs when Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers embarked on a Cinderella journey. NBA Twitter labeled him “The Haliban,” with inappropriate memes showcasing a turban photoshopped onto his head. Even coaches aren’t exempt — Baltimore Ravens’ John Harbaugh was turned into Osama Bin Laden after squandering a 34–19 lead against the Bills.
Considering that we’re almost 24 years past the onset of the U.S.’s “War on Terror,” it’s unsurprising that figures such as Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, and George W. Bush have infiltrated the surreal meme landscape of sports TikTok. What was once serious geopolitical imagery has been transformed into dark humor.
It also mirrors how the early 2000s culture, a time when Islamophobia was normalized, has evolved into something more bizarre amid our Y2K cultural revival. For younger fans who did not experience the 9/11 period, the imagery seems more like a disconnected artifact rather than actual history. Thus, remixing it into a meme about a kicker ruining your Sunday or a forward missing an easy save. It’s ludicrous, offensive, and — depending on one’s opinion — genuinely, really humorous.
One comment beneath a Tom Brady X Saddam edit states, “As a kid growing up in NY during the 2000s, these two were considered equally evil men back then.”