Former Giants Kicker Lawrence Tynes Smack-Talks Patriots After AFC Championship Game
BOSTON (CBS) -- Living in the Internet age, you just never know what's going to happen on any given Sunday. Sometimes, the sun goes up and the sun goes down without too many noteworthy events taking place. Other times, a former NFL kicker whips the football world into a tizzy, 140 characters at a time.
The latter is what took place on Sunday evening, when former Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes took to the keyboard (or perhaps to a smartphone) to rain on the Patriots' parade following their 45-7 win over the Colts.
The Pats have learned to celebrate the hell out of those AFC Championships because the know what comes 2 weeks later. #0-2inGlendale
— ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (@lt4kicks) January 19, 2015
"The Pats have learned to celebrate the hell out of those AFC Championships because the know what comes 2 weeks later," he wrote.
Tynes was, apparently, a bit too excited to fire off that tweet, hence the typo on "they" and the failed hashtag (come on, Larry! Read about hashtags, pal! You can't be starting with numbers! That's rookie ball stuff!).
The tweet made its way to Tynes' following, which was somewhere around 3,000 at the time of the tweet, but it quickly blew up across the Internet. That prompted Tynes to double down with a follow-up tweet.
The facts are the facts. I sense the 10 year frustration in these tweets. Enjoy the AFC ring ceremony. They should have the process down
— ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (@lt4kicks) January 19, 2015
"The facts are the facts," he tweeted. "I sense the 10 year frustration in these tweets. Enjoy the AFC ring ceremony. They should have the process down."
Tynes, the 36-year-old who was a member of both Giants teams that defeated the Patriots in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, then resembled every nerd who's ever gotten into a debate on an online forum or message board.
I'm glad I gave all of you something to do this evening. Research,memes,pictures,stats, grammar, etc.
— ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (@lt4kicks) January 19, 2015
You will wake up better tomorrow
He then reveled in the attention he received, which -- let's face it -- is typically why someone would tweet such a thing, especially when that person is a former kicker who's been out of the league for two years.
Great news @espn wrote a story on my tweet. Pretty good for a no name, couch sitting, washed up kicker. I think I am famous now. Yessssssss
— ???????????????????????????????? ???????????????????? (@lt4kicks) January 19, 2015
Perhaps the best response to Tynes' tweet barrage came from former Patriots cornerback Ty Law, who was working postgame duties for CSNNE.
"Who is that -- a kicker?" Law said. "Next subject. Don't count. Go soak ya foot."
Now we just need Peyton Manning to chime in, and then we can put the bookend on this story.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.