Anyone with a pair of those beautifully spongy clogs known as Crocs know that when it’s time to get serious, those suckers go in Sport Mode. Crocs have long been used as meme bait since their debut in 2002, but that hasn’t stopped them from being a standard in the public’s fashion tastes. Heck, even the internet’s favorite hero Brie Larson is rocking the Crocs, full of jibbetz to spare.
However, Crocs in Sport Mode is a more recent edition to the meme lexicon. In recent years, it seems like everyone knows once the strap is behind your ankle, it’s about to go down. But when did the Sport Mode meme become the first thing people think of when they think of Crocs?
Like most great memes, it started on Twitter. User @photosnfreckles went viral back in early 2019 with a Tweet about her friend’s dismay when running in Crocs. On Jan. 29, 2019, she tweeted “tell me why we were running and taliah said ‘I CANT KEEP UP!!! MY CROCS ARE NOT ON SPORTS MODE!!!!” Racking up over 70k in likes since then, it seems the Internet was in agreement that sports mode for Crocs meant taking the strap off the front of the Croc and locking it behind your ankle.
However, the meme really blew up thanks to a YouTube video from creator JoshButlerTV. Posted Dec. 9, 2021, Josh’s video shows him not only getting his dogs’ crocs in Sport Mode, but his own as well to make sure he can catch up with them. With over 8 million views, it’s clear this helped cement the idea of Crocs in Sport Mode in the general public’s minds.
Since JoshButlerTV’s video, it seems like anytime you see Crocs online, it’s the joke about getting them in sports mode for some serious stuff. Whether it’s racing after criminals or racing from the cops, people are making it clear that the way to keep it serious, you got to go with sports mode.
In case you were wondering, the trend is Crocs approved. Though sold out, at one point the official Crocs store sold a “Sport Mode” jibbet. Crocs even launched official “Sport Mode” varieties in a partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, offering both a hiking and all-terrain clog. Then again, you just need to flip that strap have Sport Mode Crocs.