NFL

The Atlanta Falcons were born on June 30, 1965 making them the fifteenth NFL franchise. The name “falcon” was chosen because it is a dignified and proud who creature that fights with courage. At the time, the Falcons set the all-time season ticket sales with 45,000. Their first head coach was an assistant on the Green Bay Packers, Norb Hecker. It took the Falcons ten games to get their first win defeating the New York Giants 27-16 and finished with a record of 3-11. The following season showed no improvement with a 1-12-1 record and Hecker was fired the next season. The Falcons didn’t have a winning season until 1971 with a 7-6-1 record with head coach Norm Van Brocklin. In 1973, the Falcons reached a new team high with a 9-5 record.The success of the Falcons continued with a new coach, Leeman Bennett, and in 1977 the Falcons set the record allowing only a 129 points in a fourteen game season. The Falcons made the playoffs three times between 1978-1982 and in 1980 set the franchise record with 12 wins winning the NFC Western Division title. Key contributors to the Falcons early success was quarterback Steve Bartkowski, defensive end Claude Humphrey, wide receiver Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, and running back Gerald Riggins.
In 1992 the Falcons moved from the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium and into the Georgia Dome. In 1998, the Atlanta Falcons reached Super Bowl XXXIII meeting the Denver Broncos but losing 34-19. The 14-2 regular season Falcons were lead by quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson who finished second for the league lead in rushing yards behind Terrell Davis. Also in the same year Anderson set the NFL record carrying the ball 410 times which was broken by Larry Johnson in 2006.

One of the more exciting players to come into the NFL in a long time was Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Vick came into the league in 2001 and quickly made a huge impact on the game. Vick was a running quarter back instead of the traditional passing QB, also that prevented him ever to evolve as a better player. Vick set multiple NFL records including the most rushing yards by a QB with 1,039 in 2006 and the most one hundred yard games by a QB in a career. In 2002 Michael Vick became a well know name being elected to the Pro Bowl starting 15/16 games.

The Atlanta Falcons are in a state of renewal with Michael Vick’s off field problems. Matt Ryan was selected number three overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons to be their future quarterback. It will take some time for the Atlanta Falcons to get back to their Super Bowl form but as of now they are on the right path in doing so. The Falcons play in the NFC South with the Tamp Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints, and Carolina Panthers which is a division that had every team has won since 2003.