The Cardinals have submitted their pick. No, Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort didn't wait weeks to submit his NFL Draft pick. The Catholic Church has a new Pope just weeks after the passing of Pope Francis. That sent social media into a frenzy of memes, including the one we made at the top here. NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport were not immune to the jokes as the world awaited the new pope's emergence.
“White smoke: A new Pope has been selected. He soon will appear at the central window of St. Peter’s Basilica,” Schefter posted when the smoke first bellowed. Is it the George Pickens trade? Or the new leader of the Catholic Church? Whichever, you can get your news from Schefter. Then, he jumped in on the memes by reposting the Cardinals meme.
— Sim Robinson (@YallRoll) May 8, 2025
The National Football League's official account also made the joke. Timing really is everything, as this is the first time the conclave overlapped with the NFL Draft. That left the joke fresh in everyone's mind for Thursday's big announcement.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 8, 2025
Rapoport went back to his day job for one big piece of news, as Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks went on the PUP list. Then, he reposted the official announcement after the first American pope was named.
The new pope is announced: Cardinal Robert F. Prevost takes the name Leo XIV. pic.twitter.com/Q0cFXZKeqq
— Catholic News Service Rome (@CatholicNewsSvc) May 8, 2025
The NFL insiders were not the only ones to make some final pope jokes before Leo XIV was announced. UFC legend Conor McGregor used AI to his advantage to stake his claim for the papacy.
Surprise surprise motherfucker the king is back! pic.twitter.com/0FCl8onGAR
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 8, 2025
Pope Leo XIV went to Villanova University in Philadelphia. He was presented to the crowd at the Vatican just hours after Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges lifted the New York Knicks to victory. That's a pretty good 24 hours for the school.
Villanova is on a legendary run pic.twitter.com/Rqti1vau08
— Dylan Hornik (@_Hornik_) May 8, 2025
The new pope is the first American to lead the Church in its 2000-year history. We hope he appreciated sports fans' memes about his lifetime achievement on Thursday afternoon.