Meet the Falcons F alcons are the great hunters of the sky They circle slowly and patiently until they spot their next meal Then they strike swiftly and quietly often before their prey knows what is happening The Atlanta Falcons live up to their name They can score from anywhere on the field at any moment Of course winning football games requires more than speed and the element of surprise It takes hard work at the line of scrimmage where strength and strategy are tested play after play by enormous linemen In order for Atlanta’s stars to soar the battle in the trenches must be won first This book tells the story of the Falcons They understand the narrow difference between winning and losing At times in their history the Falcons have been almost unbeatable They have also faced injuries and bad luck What makes the Falcons truly special is how they achieve the most when everyone expects the least Quarterback Matt Ryan gets a hug from Tyson Clabo after a scoring pass Clabo is one of the Falcons who battles in the trenches 5
Glory Days D uring the 1960s one of America’s fastest-growing cities was Atlanta Georgia Like most major cities it had a lot of sports fans What Atlanta didn’t have was a professional team in a major sport That would soon change By the end of the decade Atlanta was home to the Braves in baseball and the Hawks in basketball In the early 1970s the city even got a hockey team However no sport excited the people of Atlanta more than football The college game was very popular in the South and the pro game was quickly gaining ground The National Football League NFL wanted to put a team in Atlanta So did its rival the American Football League AFL The NFL got its wish when the Falcons joined the league They played their first season in 1966 The leader of the Falcons was linebacker Tommy Nobis who seemed to be everywhere at once The big problem for Atlanta was 6
scoring points The team had some good players on offense including quarterback Bob Berry and running back Cannonball Butler but the Falcons were no match for the NFL’s top teams In 1966 they went 3 11 The following year they did even worse and won just one game surely Slowly but the Falcons improved Nobis was joined by defensive stars Claude Humphrey Ken Reaves and John Zook Under coach Norm Van Brocklin the team had its first winning season in 1973 Later in the decade the Falcons found their first offensive star in quarterback Steve Bartkowski In 1978 he led Atlanta to several last-second victories and the team advanced to the playoffs for the first time ever Bartkowski guided a high-scoring offense that featured running back William Andrews and receivers Alfred Jenkins Wallace Francis and Junior Miller In 1980 the Falcons won their division of the National Football Conference NFC and advanced to the playoffs again Two years later Atlanta made it to the postseason for a third time LEFT Tommy Nobis ABOVE Steve Bartkowski 7
