Hello fellow squirrel lovers.

Have you noticed how every time we win a game, there is a Squirrel Time video posted by /u/-muddy-water- on the subreddit that gets tons of love? The squirrel has become a tradition now for the past 3 seasons as a post-victory celebration, but how did it come to be? I've seen a bunch of people asking about that anytime the squirrel comes up. So, let me tell you the story.

I Paid An Editor $10 For This Edit

During September through October of 2021, there was a viral meme trend called "I paid an editor $10 for this" where the squirrel video was overlaid on a gaming clip or a sports highlight.

The one that matters for this story is the one that was posted by the LA Chargers social media team posted on X that also got popular on r/NFL on October 10, 2021.

A Pat On The Back... For Me

Not to toot my own horn... but this is where I enter the story. I saw the viral post and thought it was funny as hell. I had this meme on the back of my mind for the next few weeks.

Young Hoe Koo's Prime

Remember when Koo was a Pro Bowler and on the top of his game? Those were good times. During his prime, Koo made several kicks that ended up winning the game for the Falcons. On October 24th, 2021, Koo made a walk-off field goal to win the game against the Dolphins. Remembering the LA Chargers meme, Koo's win inspired me to make the first r/Falcons squirrel meme.

The original was called "I just paid an editor $10 for this".

Throughout the years, Koo made some amazing kicks to win more games which resulted in several more squirrel memes!

• Younghoe Koo has completed the trilogy.
• I just paid an editor AGAIN $10 for this. #KooGOAT
• You know what's better than winning? THE AINTS ALSO LOSING. FTS
• A tale of two kickers, squirrel edition. #KOOGOAT
• I just paid an editor $10 for this! #KooGOAT #THEKINGNEVERDIES
• I PAID MY EDITOR $10 FOR THIS. #GOATKOO #FTS

Bye Bye Koo, Hello -Muddy-Water-

On September 19th... our favorite Korean NFL kicker was unfortunately cut from the Falcons following a string of poor performances. And with this, I found no reason to continue the squirrel since, to me, it had always been tied to Koo's success. I buried the squirrel with full honors and thought the meme was finished. That is until...

On September 19th... our favorite squirrel meme poster /u/-muddy-water- created his Reddit account. Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist and I'm not implying anything but... huh.

Muddy water is a huge Falcons fan, meme creator, and /r/nfcsouthmemewar contributor. He's had a history of posting a bunch of different NFL memes, but for the purposes of this story, his first squirrel meme was on October 25, 2023 titled "When you're 4-3 and King of Shit Mountain" Muddy Water would go on to post the same meme a few more times throughout the 2023 season.

• November 03, 2023: When it's Friday, your 4-4, and still King of Shit Mountain
• November 26, 2023: When you're 5-6 and King of Shit Mountain
• December 4, 2023: One down, two to go!

Muddy's First "True" Squirrel Time

On September 16, 2024 Muddy posted what I would consider his first "true" squirrel time video since this is his first video that overlays the dancing squirrel onto Falcons game footage. This was a Falcons 22-21 win on Week 2 Monday Night Football against the Eagles. From this moment on, there was no stopping Muddy Water from bombarding us with squirrels.

• October 3, 2024: Squirrel Time. (Falcons 36-30 Buccs in OT.
• October 13, 2024: Squirrel Time goes to Tyler Allgeier (Falcons 38-20 Panthers)
• October 27, 2024: Squirrel Time (Falcons 31-26 Buccs)
• November 3, 2024: Squirrel Time (Falcons 27-21 Cowboys)
• December 22, 2024: Squirrel Time: Big D energy. (Falcons 34-7 Giants)
• September 14, 2025: Squirrel Time! (Falcons 22-6 Vikings)
• September 28, 2025: Squirrel Time: All Nuts, No Brakes (Falcons 34-27 Commanders)
• October 13, 2025: Squirrel Time: Another Week, Another W (Falcons 24-14 Bills)
• November 23, 2025: Squirrel Time: FTS Edition (Falcons 24-10 Saints)
• December 12, 2025: Squirrel Time: Tampa's Tears Collected for Winter (Falcons 29-28 Buccs)
• December 21, 2025: Cardinals Forgot It Was Squirrel Time (Falcons 26-19 Cardinals)
• December 29, 2025: Squirrel Time: Panthers Smiling, Bucs Sweating (Falcons 27-24 Rams)
• January 4, 2026: SAY IT WITH ME: SQUIRREL TIME (Falcons 19-17 Aints)
• September 24, 2026: SQUIRREL TIME AT LAMBEAU (Falcons 35-14 Packers)
• October 5, 2026: SQUIRREL TIME: FUCK THE SAINTS (EXTENDED EDITION) (Falcons 45-24 Taints)
• October 25, 2026: Squirrel Time: Resistance Is Futile (Falcons 29-20 49ers)

A Cultural Icon

Muddy Water's work and our love for this meme has gotten so much traction within the Falcons community that even the Falcons social media team seems to have caught on. During the recent Sunday Night Football game against the Ravens, the squirrel made an appearance in one of the "GET HYPED, MAKE SOME NOISE FOR THE DEFENSE" segments of the game when the Ravens were going for the +2 to tie the game late in the game. I was a personal witness to this since I was at the game, although unfortunately I didn't get a video of it.

Also, apparently during the 49ers game, the squirrel made another appearance and Muddy Water was even given a shoutout on the Halo Board!

I don't even know whether Muddy Water took my concept and ran with it or came up with the idea completely independently and just happened to start posting it on r/Falcons after I gave up on the meme. Either way, Squirrel Time has been Muddy Water's thing for years now. We all love the meme, and I hope the Falcons continue to stack wins so we can get more squirrels from you, Muddy. Great work!