Skip to main content
Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

The Mannequin Challenge is the next craze coming to a sports team near you

The newest challenge craze involves doing nothing — literally.

Earlier this year, it was the Running Man challenge that took over the sports world. Now, however, the next new challenge that seems to be sweeping the nation has just the opposite approach. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you — the Mannequin Challenge!

Hip-hop act Rae Sremmurd, as you can see above, got the whole crowd to freeze mid-motion and remain there as the camera pans around the room, thus looking, as the name implies, like mannequins. As of right now, the craze seems to already be taking hold among various high school and college sports teams — even the NFL.

The Cowboys presented perhaps the best mannequin challenge so far, featuring Cole Beasley stuffed in a overhead bin.

And then Cowboys ownership presented the worst one.

The Cavaliers worked one in during their trip to the White House. Including a cameo from the First Lady.

The Giants froze in place after their win Sunday over the Eagles.

Kentucky froze an entire arena full of people for the challenge.

TCU’s football team participated after beating No. 17 Baylor.

Clemson’s football team also did one after beating Syracuse 54-0 the same week.

Penn State did it too after beating Iowa 41-14.

Here’s a video of the University of West Florida Argonauts, a Division II team, participating.

Here’s one from the Ontario High School baseball team.

The challenge has also expanded to high school football student sections.

The trend even expanded early on to bigger college programs. University of Michigan running back Chris Evans posted a video of Wolverines players taking their best shot at keeping still.

The University of Wisconsin basketball team added a version of their own, staging a lengthy version that clocked in at over two minutes.

The Steelers became one of the first professional teams to join in, filming a version and even had media members join in.

The exact origin story of the challenge remains uncertain, but signs point to the first video of the challenge being this one. An article at Mashable on the trend seems to suggest likewise.

As you may have been able to tell from the videos above, there does not seem to be a clear song of choice among participants, as opposed to “My Boo” by the Ghost Town DJs in the Running Man challenge. We will keep you posted as more members of the sports world join in on the #mannequinchallenge.

See More:

More in General

GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
An SB Nation New Yorker needs our helpAn SB Nation New Yorker needs our help
GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
General
Sabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world recordSabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world record
General

The mythical two-hour mark was broken at the London Marathon.

By Bernd Buchmasser
A Huge Dog
THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1
Play
General
Super Bowl 60 coin toss resultsSuper Bowl 60 coin toss results
General

The Seahawks and Patriots will open the Super Bowl with the coin toss to determine who starts with the ball. We have the full coin toss results for Super Bowl 60.

By David Fucillo
General
Marc Marquez completes a comeback for the agesMarc Marquez completes a comeback for the ages
General

MotoGP’s Marc Marquez completed a comeback for the ages with his 2025 title

By Mark Schofield
General
How to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search resultsHow to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search results