Afterward, Walz, who was wearing a camouflage Minnesota Vikings cap, posted on X that Ocasio-Cortez "could run a mean pick 6," meaning when a defender returns an interception for a touchdown.
"And we both know when you take the time to draw up a playbook, you’re gonna use it," Walz also wrote.
The post was later deleted, but critics quickly jumped on the mistake.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, noted the difference between a pick 6 and offensive plays.
"You don't run a pick-six, you run the West Coast offense or the spread offense," Vance said at a campaign rally. "It made me realize that even though they say Tim Walz was a football coach, I think I know more about football than Tim Walz. And it's appropriate 'cause I think my running mate, Donald J. Trump, knows more about working at McDonald's than Kamala Harris does."