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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > September > 15
Monday, September 15, 2008
We will now find out about Falcons’ grit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Flowery Branch — One week after Matt Ryan introduced himself with a touchdown pass, Michael Turner broke a rushing record and Mike Smith won a game and gave the world a game ball, some joker had to go plug in an old videotape.
The Falcons were drilled at Tampa Bay Sunday, and before the sun came up Monday, Lawyer Milloy — team leader Lawyer Milloy — was charged with DUI and speeding, and spent five hours in a Gwinnett County jail.
Franchise exorcism: Not so complete.
Now, this doesn’t mean the Falcons are on the verge of collapse, and it doesn’t mean anybody should start looking for more black-painted shacks on Moonlight Road, and it doesn’t mean one insanely stupid act should obliterate Milloy’s 13 wonderful seasons in the NFL. He is known as a standup guy, although something is wrong when a standup guy doesn’t show up Monday to, well, stand up in front of the media. (He finally released a one-sentence statement through his attorney 16 hours after his arrest.)
But if the Falcons were wondering when their first test would come, this is it. We find out about athletes and teams when they are under duress. We will now start to find out about the Falcons.
The loss to Tampa was a cold slap back to reality. It’s never certain how a young, potentially fragile team will react to that. The arrest of Milloy might not seem like a big deal to some. (Newsflash: Football players often decompress and numb themselves after games.) But the fact this involved such a high-profile player on a franchise toting so much baggage elevates its significance.
“It’s a sad situation, and it’s definitely not what we need after a loss,” fullback Ovie Mughelli said, shortly after hearing about Milloy. “But he’s human. We’re all human. We’re all about trying to live in the now and doing what we can to fix everything we can. I’m not worried. We’ve been through harder things in the past.”
The last time the Falcons had a player involved in something at 4:30 a.m., Rod Coleman had left a bar and flipped his Escalade after swerving to miss a deer. Or was it a 10-foot rabbit? Leprechaun?
The team did not handle that well. Jim Mora played dodgeball with questions. Everybody else went under cover.
It wasn’t quite that bad Monday. Smith said the team was “extremely disappointed” and that Milloy’s act was “completely unacceptable.” But he said the matter will be “handled internally,” which is something out of the coaches’ handbook. He said he couldn’t elaborate because he was handcuffed by the Collective Bargain Agreement.
There was a degree of truth to that. Matters pertaining to drugs and alcohol fall under one set of rules in the CBA. Incidents deemed in violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy (example: “Pacman” Jones) fall under another. Technically, a player can’t be suspended or even fined for a drug or alcohol offense until the matter runs its course in the legal system.
However, Smith could have been a little more enlightening than, “We’ll handle the matter internally.” Certainly, Milloy could have been present to address the matter. This will be an issue when the team resumes practice Wednesday.
We can’t yet know how fragile this team is. For that matter, we can’t even be certain of Milloy. He didn’t seem enamored of playing for a rebuilding project this season. He is in the final year of his contract. The Falcons wanted him back to help steady their young roster, but they weren’t going to sweeten his contract. There’s potential for some ripple effect.
For now, they all stand together. Players say they will bounce back from all of the inglorious headlines.
“When you play in this league, a lot of things come your way,” Keith Brooking said. “You just have to put blinders on. We just got beat by Tampa Bay, and now we have Kansas City standing in front of us. Anything else, you’ve got to put that to the side.”
It sounds so easy. We’re about to find out how.
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