The Young Hero Who Snapped A Super Bowl Selfie With Justin Timberlake Is Loving His New Popularity

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During Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl halftime performance, you may have noticed the moment when a young man looked generally confused by the presence of the pop star, and ultimately decided to take a selfie after Timberlake wouldn’t give up standing next to him. You also may have noticed the delightful selection of memes that have rolled out in the few hours since the moment unfolded on television.

After the conclusion of the halftime show, an on-site reporter for the St. Paul Press made a point to find the young man — a thirteen-year-old seventh-grader from Massachussetts named Ryan McKenna — and ask him and his father about the moment. “I just thought to myself, ‘I’ll never get this opportunity again in my whole life,’” McKenna told the reporter. “I just went for it… It’s been so crazy. I don’t even know what to think. All my friends have been texting me and stuff. It’s insane… It was already crazy to be at the Super Bowl in the first place. Then all of a sudden I’m up on the jumbotron and everyone is talking about me. I can’t believe it.”

“My phone started blowing up,” Ryan’s father John added. “It died, like, instantly after it happened. We had friends from all over reaching out. I couldn’t believe it… We had the great opportunity to come see the Super Bowl. Never in a million years did we think this would happen.”

Ryan’s infamous selfie with Timberlake has already landed him a slot on an upcoming episode of Good Morning America, so expect the announcement of a movie adaptation of the moment in the coming weeks.

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