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
Over the next few decades the Falcons continued to put exciting stars on the field The leaders on offense included Gerald Riggs Jeff George Andre Rison Mike Kenn Bill Fralic and Bob Whitfield On defense Tony Casillas Tim McKyer and Jessie Tuggle made the big plays There was no brighter star than Deion Sanders He was a lightning-fast defensive back and kick returner whose nickname was Prime Time Whenever he got his hands on the ball the crowd came alive In 1998 the Falcons returned to the top of the NFC West Coach Dan Reeves assembled a roster that mixed veterans with young stars Quarterback Chris Chandler guided a dangerous offense that included Jamal Anderson Tim Dwight Tony Martin Terance Mathis and Morten Andersen The defense was also tough thanks to stars such as Eugene Robinson Ray Buchanan and Keith Brooking The Falcons called themselves the Dirty Birds and had their own special dance They won the NFC championship and played LEFT Deion Prime Time Sanders ABOVE Jamal Anderson and Dan Reeves lead the team in the Dirty Bird dance 9
