Dude Perfect (DP) is an American sports and comedy group headquartered in
Frisco, Texas
Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the ...
. The group consists of Tyler "TT" Toney, twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett "Purple Hoser" Hilbert, and Cody "Tall Guy" Jones, all of whom are former college roommates at
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
. Their
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
channel has over 58,5 million subscribers and is the second-most-subscribed sports channel as well as the
23rd-most-subscribed channel overall. Dude Perfect also has two other YouTube channels, Dude Perfect Plus and Dude Perfect Gaming, which aren't currently active.
Content created by Dude Perfect predominantly consists of videos depicting various
trick shots, stereotypes, and stunts. The group also regularly uploads videos of "battles," in which the individual members of Dude Perfect compete against one another in a good-natured game or contest, incorporating different sports and a unique set of rules. Dude Perfect also created the show Overtime, a series where they host several segments, such as "Wheel Unfortunate", in which a contestant spins a wheel and gets a random penalty, and "Absurd Recurds", in which the Dudes attempt to break the most absurd world record they can find. (See world records section.)
History
Early years
On April 9, 2009, a video of the group performing trick shots at Tyler Toney's house and a local public park was released on YouTube.
Within a week, the video received 200,000 views and was mentioned on
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
.
The group's second video, filmed at a Mormon summer camp, was released shortly thereafter. The video amassed over 18 million views and it became unequivocally famous. The trick shot group which had been founded would never imagine singing lyrics such as "hatin' your gut" in Pet Peeves, their hit song. For every 100,000 views the video received, Dude Perfect pledged to sponsor a child from
Compassion International
Compassion International is an American child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that aims to positively influence the long-term development of children globally who live in pov ...
, but now, they fail to do that.
After the videos went viral,
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
contacted Dude Perfect. Clips from Dude Perfect videos subsequently appeared on ''
First Take'', ''
Pardon the Interruption
''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top sto ...
'', ''
Around the Horn
''Around the Horn'' (''ATH'') is an American sports roundtable discussion show, conducted in the style of a panel game, produced by ESPN. The show premiered on November 4, 2002, as a replacement for ''Unscripted with Chris Connelly'', and has ...
'' and ''
SportsNation''.
In 2010, Dude Perfect introduced the Panda mascot. The Panda quickly grew into a popular symbol at
Texas A&M basketball games when taunting players of the opposing team.
Professional endorsements and collaborations
Dude Perfect has worked with
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Aaron Rodgers
Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to t ...
,
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...
star
Chris Paul
Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and “The Point God”, is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Paul is widely regarded as one ...
, Australian
ten-pin bowler Jason Belmonte
Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two han ...
, actor
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in ...
, singer
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albu ...
,
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...
coach
Pete Carroll
Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...
and
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Russell Wilson
Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...
,
wide receiver Ryan Swope,
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
star
Morgan Beck,
Heisman Trophy winner and former quarterback
Johnny Manziel at Kyle Field,
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...
quarterback
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, ...
, the
United States Olympic team,
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...
drivers
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,
Travis Pastrana
Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, a ...
,
James Buescher
James H. Buescher (born March 26, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 2012 Truck Series champion.
After parting ways with NTS Motorsports in 2015, Buescher became a real est ...
and
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
driver
James Hinchcliffe
James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...
at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 2 ...
.
The group has also collaborated with
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for '' NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving ...
,
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
wide receiver
Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beckham played college football at LSU and was drafted by the N ...
,
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
quarterback
Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...
and coach
Sean Payton
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...
, the
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...
, and
St. Louis Rams players
Greg Zuerlein
Gregory Zuerlein ; (born December 27, 1987) is an American football placekicker for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, he played college football at Nebraska-Omaha and Missouri Western. He ...
,
Johnny Hekker and
Jake McQuaide,
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...
players
Tyler Seguin Tyler may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name
* Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer
* John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
and
Jamie Benn,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...
player
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
and
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
singer
Luke Bryan
Thomas Luther "Luke" Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country singer, songwriter, and television personality. He began his music career writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington before signing with Capitol Nashville in 2007 ...
. In 2016, Dude Perfect traveled to the United Kingdom to film a video with players of
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...
,
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Chelsea. In 2020, Dude Perfect released their fourth All Sports Golf Battle that was pre-recorded in 2019 with actor
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...
, who finished third in the finale. The group also got a chance to visit the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's
''Nimitz''-class aircraft carrier USS ''Nimitz'' for a 3-day trip aboard and released their trip's video as an episode as part of their ''Bucket List''. Dude Perfect also visited South Africa in their second bucket list video. In 2021, Dude Perfect released episode 27 of "Overtime", which featured a cameo from
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. The ...
center
Boban Marjanovic.
Business ventures
In 2011, Dude Perfect launched a free mobile game for iOS and Android, titled ''Dude Perfect''. The group subsequently released ''Dude Perfect 2,'' and other games titled ''Endless Ducker'' and ''That's Lit''. Following the release of the mobile apps, Cory Cotton authored a nationally published book titled ''Go Big'', in which he shared the secrets the group has learned along the way building a business in a world largely influenced by social media.
In June 2015, the group was selected by the
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name '' Harlem'' because of ...
in their annual player draft.
In September 2015, the group was approved for a television series entitled ''
The Dude Perfect Show'' on
CMT, which began airing during the first half of 2016. The show's second season aired on
Viacom sibling network
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
.
In 2019, Dude Perfect went on their very first live tour. In 2020, the group also announced their second live tour, which was later postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, Dude Perfect partnered with Serious Bean Co. to develop a new flavor of baked beans, The group also partnered with TruLabs to sell personalized products and merchandise.
Partnering with
YouTube Originals in 2020, Dude Perfect released a
documentary: 'Backstage Pass'. The documentary provided a behind-the-scenes look at their live tour: 'Pound It, Noggin'.
In 2021, Dude Perfect released their first song, titled "
The Pet Peeves Song", on May 3, 2021. Later that same year, a book, ''Dude Perfect 101 Tricks, Tips, and Cool Stuff'', written by Travis Thrasher and authorized by the group, was announced; the hard copy of the book was released on June 22.The book contains behind-the-scenes of many of their ventures, as well as deeper looks on each member. The book also contains how-tos for many at-home trick shots.
World records
In 2009, the group set the
Guinness world record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the longest basketball shot after shooting from the third deck of
Kyle Field
Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...
. In October 2010, Dude Perfect extended their record with a "cross-tower" shot from a height of 66 meters (216 feet); the basket was located 45 meters (150 feet) away from the tower's base. In March 2011, Dude Perfect unofficially broke their record again with a shot from the top of
Reliant Stadium
NRG Stadium, formerly Reliant Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to have a retrac ...
, which remained in the air for 5.3 seconds.
In January 2014, the group successfully attempted a shot from the 561-foot-tall
Reunion Tower
Reunion Tower is a observation tower in Dallas, Texas and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Located at 300 Reunion Boulevard in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, the tower is part of the Hyatt Regency Hotel complex and is the ...
, with Cody Jones and Garrett Hilbert holding the basket at the base of the tower.
In their 2016 video, “World Record Edition,” Dude Perfect broke multiple
world records
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
. The group broke the world records for longest basketball shot, highest basketball shot, longest blindfolded basketball shot, and longest sitting basketball shot. Subsequently, they released a sequel based on
football the following year, in which they broke even more world records.
In 2018, Dude Perfect broke the record for longest barefoot
Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlockin ...
walk and longest pea blow during their filming of "Overtime." In episode six of "Overtime," Dude Perfect broke the record for the farthest distance travelled rolling across
exercise balls. In 2019, Dude Perfect broke the world record for most
Ping Pong
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
balls stuck on a person's head using
shaving cream
Shaving cream or shave cream is a category of cream cosmetics used for shaving preparation. The purpose of shaving cream is to soften the hair by providing lubrication.
Different types of shaving creams include aerosol shaving cream (also k ...
, and the most
donuts
A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franc ...
stacked on each other while
blindfolded. In 2020, they broke another record for the most
beachball header passes in 30 seconds.
In 2019, on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
's ''
The Dude Perfect Show'', the group set 6 world records: fastest time to wrap a person with wrapping paper (team of two), most party poppers popped in 30 seconds (team of two), most thumbtacks inserted into a corkboard in a minute, most eggs crushed with the toes in 30 seconds, most drink cans opened with one hand in a minute, farthest distance traveled on Swiss balls.
Dude Perfect currently holds 14 Guinness World Records.
Legitimacy
Amid their success, questions arose over the legitimacy of the group's trick shots. Hosts on ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...
'' discussed the tricks and debated whether they were real,
though experts contacted by the show stated they were unable to find evidence of the tricks being fake.
Regarding the doubts, group member Cody Jones said: "We love it when people claim it's fake, because it makes the shots seem even more ridiculously impossible; and we get more publicity and hits on YouTube, so we love the mystery of knowing whether it's real or fake."
References
{{Streamy Awards Winners CSS
Streamy Award-winning channels, series or shows
Texas A&M University alumni
YouTube channels launched in 2009
Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
Companies based in Frisco, Texas
Entertainment companies of the United States
YouTubers from Texas
American Internet groups
Sports YouTubers
American YouTube groups
Sports trick shot artists