The saddest facts about George Cooper make him the most tragic of the major characters in Young Sheldon. George is Sheldon’s dad, portrayed as a genial man, football coach, and an overwhelmed father trying to wrangle his three kids, who couldn’t be more different from one another. Young Sheldon shows certain events in George’s life that are hinted at by the adult Sheldon. However, despite the bad reputation Sheldon has given him on The Big Bang Theory, the Cooper patriarch has proven to be a sensitive man who genuinely loves his family. What Sheldon also forgets to tell the viewers is how tragic his father’s backstory actually is.

While George did a lot to make fans fall for him in the show, Sheldon’s dad was also someone who had a lot of problems. It was clear from the start that he was sacrificing a lot in his life for his family, and no one seemed to appreciate it. He was starting to drink more and seemed to grow unhealthy as time passed on, which might play into his early death. However, when it comes to the saddest facts about George Cooper in Young Sheldon, the fact that he was no longer part of his son’s life heading into The Big Bang Theory showed that fans have a lot to discover about the Cooper dad.

13 He Dies At 50 (?)

Many Big Bang Theory fans are curious about what happens to Sheldon’s dad. The most heartbreaking thing is the fact that Sheldon’s dad’s death was from some heart complications. His exact age at the time of his death remains uncertain, but he would be at least 50 when he passes away. George Sr. always tried to understand his son’s intellectual gift and encouraged him to take life-changing opportunities, but he did not live to see his son marry an accomplished woman or win the Nobel Prize. It’s one of the saddest facts about George Cooper, but fans can be sure that he would have been proud.

12 He Gets Fired For Reporting An Illegal Activity

In Young Sheldon, it is revealed that George Cooper Sr. was sacked from an earlier, possibly more well-paying job after having reported his colleagues. These colleagues had been revealed to have broken the rules by illegally recruiting football players to play for their school. It was one of the saddest facts about George Cooper since he obviously did the right thing here. It was terribly unfair that he loses his job instead of being lauded for being honest. His family also has to move to East Texas following the incident, leaving Sheldon’s dad to take up a job at a school to make ends meet.

11 He Has A Bad Reputation In TBBT

There is no doubt that George Cooper Sr. has a rather bad rep in TBBT. Having died well before the show’s timeline, George is mainly a tool for some witty repartee between Sheldon and his friends or between Mary and Sheldon. In Young Sheldon, he is written with more warmth and gravitas than one would imagine. He seems neither as dumb as Mary had repeatedly indicated nor a complete wastrel as the adult Sheldon seems to imply. If anything, George Cooper Sr. is a loving father trying very hard to keep his family together, and one of the most likable characters on Young Sheldon.

10 No One Recognizes What A Great Father He Is

No one seems to credit George for being a good father. The various anecdotes about George in the original CBS drama convey a man who is basically lazy and worthless. However, the show depicts a loving and caring father. They don’t give him credit for taking Missy to one of the best restaurants in town or teaching her how to pitch. They don’t credit him for encouraging Sheldon’s education and dreams, and how he constantly looks out for Georgie. One of the saddest facts about George Cooper is that he may be a terrible husband, but he is a good father.

9 He Possibly Has A Drinking Problem

Although there are plenty of quips in Young Sheldon about the amount of beer George drinks, neither show has actually acknowledged the reasons why he drinks so much. As many fans know, Sheldon’s dad is rarely seen without a beer. Since older Sheldon and Mary have hinted that George eventually becomes an alcoholic, it seems to suggest that something tragic will happen to exacerbate his addiction. Considering Mary and George are happy at one point, one of the saddest facts about George Cooper is that they will stop communicating and that this may contribute to his drinking problem.

8 He Has An Unhappy Marriage

Sheldon’s parents had been in an unhappy marriage for a long time. It seems that they had a hurried wedding after Mary conceived George Jr. and then the twins, Sheldon and Missy. Although they must have been in love once, they fall out of love as time passes. Whatever their faults, one of the saddest facts about George Cooper and Mary is to imagine either of them living in a loveless marriage. As fans know, it will all come to an end, and that will ruin everything for George and his entire family unit.

7 Young Sheldon Catches Him Cheating

Fans know that Sheldon shares the best Big Bang Theory friendship with Penny and opens up to her about things that he doesn’t even tell Leonard. In season 10, episode 5, “The Hot Tub Contamination,” Sheldon divulges to Penny that he had caught his dad with another woman when he was just 13. Young Sheldon reveals that George Sr. cheats on Mary, although who it was with has possibly changed from the original rumors. Now, while this must surely have been awful for Sheldon, it couldn’t have been much better for George Sr, either to be caught cheating by his teenage son. It would cause even more strain on their fractured relationship.

6 He Makes Sacrifices For His Family

In Young Sheldon, George Sr. is offered a good coaching position in Oklahoma, where Sheldon is invited as a student. However, George has to turn it down after taking his family’s needs into consideration. In a later season, Mary finally acknowledges that George makes a lot of sacrifices for his family and that he never really gets enough credit. To work so hard for a family without getting due credit cannot be easy for Sheldon’s dad.

5 He Never Gets Respect From Sheldon’s Meemaw

George gets Mary pregnant at a young age, which is possibly the reason he never manages to get any real respect from Mary’s mother. Sheldon’s Meemaw is one of the people he could consider to be his friend. Meemaw considers George a good-for-nothing in spite of the hard work he puts in for his family. He and Meemaw simply never see eye-to-eye. Although they seem a tad reconciled at present in the spin-off series, there is very little appreciation from Meemaw’s side, which is one of the saddest facts about George Cooper when it comes to his family life.

4 He Was Doomed From The Get Go

A lot has happened in Young Sheldon to set up what could end up as a redemption arc for George. However, one of the saddest facts about George Cooper is that fans know he will never get one. The way his kids talk about him on TBBT in the future shows that he not only lost his family, but they never forgave him for what he did to their mom. George will die without ever reconciling with Sheldon, and that is one of the worst possible things that fans knew heading into the show. There is a lot to like about Sheldon’s dad on the show, but none of it will matter in the end.

3 He’s In Love With Another Woman

Sheldon’s dad’s affair is what tears his family apart. For much of the series, most fans felt that George and Brenda would have the affair that destroyed their marriage. That was thrown into disarray when Brenda and Mary finally had a heart-to-heart discussion and Brenda revealed that the moment fans thought was an affair was not what it looked like. With that said, George does end up cheating on Mary with someone, and whether it is Brenda or not, there is someone out there that George ends up falling for at the end that isn’t Sheldon’s mom. Once again, it is a loveless marriage and that remains one of the saddest facts about George Cooper.

2 His Wife Has Feelings For Another Man

Not only did Sheldon’s dad end up cheating on Mary, but she also appeared to be in love with another man. There was even a dream sequence where Mary Cooper was in bed with Pastor Rob. Now, this also was thrown into disarray when Brenda mentioned Rob brings home various women and might be getting around. However, it was clear that Mary had wandering eyes, no different from George. One of the saddest facts about George Cooper was that, while he did cheat on Mary, he might not be the only guilty party in this marriage – just the one who took the brunt of his kids’ blame.

1 Sheldon Appreciates Him Too Little Too Late

In one of the best episodes of season 12, when Sheldon and Amy’s super-asymmetry theory seems to be wrong, Leonard hands Amy an emergency tape of young Sheldon cheering himself up for the occasion. Unfortunately, Sheldon’s speech to himself has been taped over by his dad. However, the football pep-talk he gives his players manages to motivate the adult Sheldon enough for him to realize that they were never so different after all. It is nice of Sheldon to finally show some appreciation for his dad, but it would have been even better if he had let him know while he was alive on Young Sheldon.