What does 6-7 mean? ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. now adds to the hype

What does 6-7 mean? ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. now adds to the hype originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Sports fans become bigger sports fans over the course of time. Frequency and repetition over time increases knowledge of the game. As we get older, we become disconnected from most of the whims of the younger generation. We’ve all been there. Parents not understanding bad means good or any number of regrettable fashion trends of our youth.

One of these trends pushed by younger people made its way into popular sports at and above the age group pushing the trend. The infamous 6-7.

There were college basketball games where coaches informed players that if they made their free throws their score would be 67 and the crowd would react. In the NFL there were touchdown celebrations that included the alternating palms up 6-7 gesture. Whether you knew what it meant or not, many of us could not escape the internet presence of the 6-7 trend.

On Tuesday, ESPN’s First Draft included a video package in the first few minutes that encapsulated the trend, but in a way familiar to football and NFL Draft fans.

ESPN has joined the 6-7 chat

During the first week of March edition of ESPN’s First Draft, Mike Greenberg executed the 20-second cold open that teased the post-Combine conversation they expected to have during their 50-minute episode.

Cut to the immediate video package after the cold open where Field Yates asked Mel Kiper Jr if he knew what 6-7 meant. Kiper did not. What followed next is a video montage of Kiper saying 6-7 in the organic course of discussing draft prospects that would make everyone’s teenager proud.

My pal @MelKiperESPN had never heard of the term 6-7

It turns out he’s unintentionally a big 6-7 guy though pic.twitter.com/KFU0OOJL8h

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 18, 2026

Yates in that video package apologized to their viewers for Kiper being the one person in the world who is unaware of the 6-7 phenomenon. While the content of their episode falls inline with almost every other episode they air, this one had a little something extra in the first minute of the show. Even then, Kiper still did not understand what Yates was apologizing for.

At the end of that package Yates mentioned, “what is the meaning of 6-7, because Mel, no one actually knows what it means”. Here’s the reporter part. I have it on good authority from my teenager, that indeed, no one actually knows what the meaning of 6-7 is. Furthermore, the kids have declared the era of 6-7 has officially ended.  

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