Falcons delete tweet making fun of Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles' missed field goal in CFP semifinal

Zac Al-Khateeb

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Falcons delete tweet making fun of Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles' missed field goal in CFP semifinal image

The Falcons have deleted a controversial tweet that seemed to make fun of Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles, who missed a would-be game-winning field goal in the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Georgia on Saturday.

The day following the Peach Bowl semifinal at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium — a 42-41 victory for top-ranked Georgia — the Falcons' social media team tweeted the following video of Younghoe Koo kicking a chip-shot 21-yard field goal to beat the Cardinals 20-19.

The Falcons captioned the video, "This is how you make a game-winning field goal at @MBStadium."

Apart from the unsavory prospect of making fun of an amateur athlete, the Falcons' tweet also failed to mention that Koo, a 2020 Pro Bowl player, made his field goal from 21 yards out, whereas Ruggles' was from 50.

Koo's kick was also largely inconsequential, as it improved the Falcons to 6-10 over a four-win Cardinals team. Atlanta has already been eliminated from the NFL playoffs, whereas Ohio State was playing for a spot in the CFP title game.

BENDER: Ohio State, Michigan & CFP misery: Which Big Ten power bounces back in 2023?

The tweet understandably received backlash, as an NFL team seemed to take a cheap shot at a college kicker who had previously gone 2 for 2 from 25 and 48 yards, respectively. The tweet was deleted on Monday.

Here is a sampling of people who expressed disgust at the Falcons' tweet:

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.