Before Friday night’s game between Ohio State and Clemson, Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney ranked the Buckeyes as the No. 11 team in the nation. This decision irritated many supporters of the team, leading to countless jokes after a 49-28 blowout. Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe joined in and used the now-viral Twisted Tea altercation to troll the Clemson head coach.
Sharpe posted a video on social media that showed the people from the Twisted Tea video in the Circle K. Swinney’s head was on the body of the person that takes a can to the face while an Ohio State helmet was on the body of the man that landed the ferocious hit. Meanwhile, Sharpe’s head was on the body of a person in the background. He started the video with a cigar in his mouth before switching to a different expression after the hit.
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DAMNNNNN *Smokey Voice*
OSU knocked the Twisted Tea out of Dabo Swinneyโs Ranking ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/hrUySVQC8Z
โ shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) January 2, 2021
The original video that surfaced on Twitter lasted just under two minutes and showed a man getting hit in the face with a can of Twisted Tea. He repeatedly shouted a racial slur and dared a Black man to hit him, leading to the now-viral collision. The Twisted Tea aficionado, “Mr. TeaKO,” continued to pummel the man before pushing him away.
Swinney prompted the firestorm of jokes and memes prior to the start of the College Football Playoffs. He ranked the Buckeyes as the 11th-best team due to only playing six games during the shortened 2020 season. Following the blowout loss on Saturday night, Swinney reiterated that the ranking was not a reflection on the talent level. He said that it was only a decision based on the number of games.
“They’re a great team,” Swinney said, per ESPN. “[The ranking] had nothing to do with Ohio State. I said they were good enough to beat us, good enough to win the whole dang thing. But I didn’t think anybody that didn’t play at least nine games, in my poll, that I wasn’t going to put them in the top 10.
“So I wasn’t going to change that just because there was a chance we could play them. So I don’t have any regret about that,” Swinney continued. “Only thing I regret is obviously not doing a good enough job getting my team ready. But I don’t regret anything about that at all.”
While Swinney has continued to explain that he doesn’t think less of Ohio State as a team, this did not save him from social media jokes. Sharpe and thousands of others had fun at his expense, starting on Saturday night and continuing into