The Falcons Freeks - Introduction

Written by: @FreekFalcon

Welcome all.  This is the first article I am dedicating this blog page to all Atlanta Falcons related topics.  Let me introduce myself without revealing my identity.  My twitter handle is @FreekFalcon

    Some people refer to me as Crazy Falcon or Freek Falcon.  I have been an Atlanta Falcon fan for 20 years now.  I became a Falcons fan in 2001 when the Atlanta Falcons traded up and drafted my favorite college player, Michael Vick.  Even before Michael Vick, I regularly played with the Falcons on Madden 99.  I remember how awful they were to play with Chris Chandler behind center.  Anyways, right after the Falcons traded up for Michael Vick and drafted Alge Crumpler in the second round.  This was the start of the Madden cheat code.

    Obviously, Vick's early career was exhilarating.  Vick would scramble out of the pocket, and run the ball way quicker than Randall Cunningham would.  MV7 was a generational player for his time.  Unfortunately when Michael broke his leg in a PRESEASON GAME (Dan Reeves's biggest mistake) I felt defeated as a fan.  I always stuck with the team through all the turmoil.  This was the first time as a fan I experienced the consistent bad luck of the Atlanta Falcons.

    Returning from injury, Vick knew he had to change his game or he would likely be injured again.  I really enjoyed Michael progress into a pocket passer.  The next year in 2004 the Falcons came back strong and Vick came back healthy.  Michael Vick, Warrick Dunn, Brian Finnernan, Alge Crumpler, DeAngelo Hall and first year head coach Jim Mora Jr. led the team all the way to the NFC Championship game.  The Falcons ended up losing to the Eagles that matchup.  That season, NFL analyst and Falcons fans saw Michael Vick transform from a freek athlete to a starting NFL quarterback.  

    We all know what happened from there.  The team acquired John Abraham from the Jets which became a monumental trade in the franchise history.  Shortly after that things turned sour.  Back to Back sub-par seasons led to the dismissal of Mora.  The 2007 Offseason got off to a great start by hiring Louisville Head Coach Bobby Petrino after coming off a Big East Title.  Once the hire happened, everything else went wrong.  The team just traded Matt Schaub who was a young backup to Michael Vick whom a lot of GMs and scouts around the NFL were very interested in the prospect.   Shortly after the Petrino hire and the Schaub trade, the team collapsed.

    Most of us know the story of why Michael Vick was suspended.  Vick was suspended for 2017 and Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich, and Chris Redman were the starting Quarterbacks.  The team also drafted a major bust in defensive end Jamal Anderson that year too.  Bobby Petrino walked out of the team without telling his players 13 games into the season.  The team finished a miserable 4-12.  They really should of went 1-15 that year.  The team played with adversity when Petrino walked out and won their last game of the season without Petrino.

    In 2008 things finally turned around.  Arthur Blank hired General Manager Thomas Dmitroff and Head Coach Mike Smith.  Honestly, at the time Mike Smith was a defensive coach from Jacksonville and wasn't a hot commodity at the time.  It was strange the team hired Mike Smith.  However, it worked.  Thomas Dmitroff then used  the 3rd Overall Pick in 2008 Draft to select our current quarterback, Matt Ryan.  Dmitroff also selected Sam Baker later in the first round that year as well.

    Over the course of the past 12 seasons with Matt Ryan as the Falcons starting Quarterback.  He has broken every single statistic you can think of.  Passing yards, Passing Touchdowns, Wins, Comeback wins, etc.  I remember Matt Ryan being the most clutch Quarterback in football.  For the longest time he led the NFL in comeback wins.  I also can not fail to mention Julio Jones, who has been the heart and soul of this offense as well.  The two have been nothing but phenomenal for this Franchise on and off the field.

    I have seen the great wins and playoff wins over the course of Ryan's career, as well as the heart-breaking losses.  Superbowl 51 when the Falcons blew the notorious 28-3 lead felt like a low point as did in 2007.  The magnitude was different in everyway, but felt similar.  Ever since the Superbowl collapse the Falcons have been on a southern trajectory.  Dan Quinn over stayed his welcome, and Thomas Dmitroff was consistently failing to improve the team each off-season.    

    This off-season feels like a new slate.  Matt Ryan is still here, Julio Jones is still here, Calvin Ridley is here, Jake Matthews, Deon Jones and Grady Jarrett are both still here.  So why does this off-season feel like we are hitting a reset?

    Arthur Blank, the team owner, took a lot of criticism over the past few seasons after awful starts in the beginning of the season.  He's the type of owner who feels like he owes it to the fans to win and win now.  He brought in Head Coach Arthur Smith and General Manager Terry Fontenot to ensure the team has future success.

    So far, the team is still strapped with awful contracts the last administration gave out.  Fontenot has done his best to fill out the roster with minimum value contracts.  The biggest question mark is letting Keanu Neal, a 25 year old hard hitting Strong Safety leave for a cheap contract.  The team replaced running back Todd Gurley with Mike Davis.  The team also brought in Fabian Morraeu to help the corners who struggled mightily last season.

    Arthur Smith is expected to install a new look offense.  I am looking forward to seeing what this team can bring each Sunday.  Even with a disappointing 4-12 record last season during the CoronaVirus, the team played their hearts out despite blowing at least 5 leads last season. 

    Falcon Freeks will continue to write articles supporting the Atlanta Falcons, talk about roster updates, draft speculation, and whatever other suggestions fans send to me.

    Thank you for taking the time to read the first Falcon Freek article.