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Marty Smith rips Atlanta Falcons for piling on Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles following loss to Georgia

Alex Weberby:Alex Weber•01/02/23
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Few football players have ever had a worse weekend than Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles. The veteran leg for the Buckeyes trotted out to attempt a 50-yard field goal that would have won the College Football Playoff semifinal game for OSU over reigning champ Georgia. However, Ruggles winged it way far to the left, sending the ball about 15 feet to the side of the upright. Just a brutal play for a college kid in that big a moment.

One NFL franchise didn’t feel bad for Ruggles whatsoever, and took the opportunity to embarrass him more on Sunday. Who? None other than the Atlanta Falcons, who posted this Tweet after making their own game-winning kick against Arizona:

That’s right, the Falcons social media team made fun of a college kicker for missing a 50-yard game-winner in the College Football Playoff semifinal by comparing it to a 21-yard chip shot to win a meaningless Week 17 NFL game between two teams already eliminated from the playoffs and both starting backup quarterbacks.

Way to show ’em, Atlanta!

ESPN and SEC Network analyst Marty Smith was not a fan of the move by the Falcons to take a shot at Noah Ruggles. In his own tweet responding to the one from the Falcons, Smith said: “Super weird flex to throw shade on a broken-hearted college kid—using a 21-yard FG to beat a 4-win team to move to 6 wins, no less, as fodder.”

Marty Smith probably speaks for a lot of people with his dislike over the Falcons trying to make fun of a college kicker by comparing it to a rather meaningless (and really easy) kick of their own.

Also, some gall by Atlanta to make fun of a historically painful moment in another team’s history. Because, well, we all remember when they crossed paths with Tom Brady in the Super Bowl not so long ago. Maybe the Buckeye social media team will find a way to fire back at Atlanta sometime down the road next season.