Dennis Quaid joins Falcons at practice

Flowery Branch — Quarterback D.J. Shockley threw passes with movie star Dennis Quaid at the Falcons complex Wednesday, and tackle Quinn Ojinnaka went out to shake his hand.

Quaid plays coach Ben Schwartzwalder in “The Express,” a film about legendary Syracuse running back Ernie Davis that comes out Friday.

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Hyosub Shin / hshin@ajc.com

Dennis Quaid (left) talks to Falcons coach Mike Smith at the team’s complex in Flowery Branch. Quaid was in town to promote his new movie ‘The Express.’

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• Photos of Quaid's visit

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Ojinnaka played at Syracuse.

“I’ve done enough football movies, so I just do it now,” Quaid said. “I knew Jim Brown from ‘Any Given Sunday,’ and his coach was Ben Schwartzwalder. He pretty much gave me some straight talk about what it was like playing football back in the ’50s and about Ben Schwartzwalder’s character.”

Falcons coach Mike Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff also chatted with Quaid.

“That’s a great story that needed to be told,” Smith said. “I hope it will be well-received. Anytime you see football out there for the general public, it’s not only great for that story, but great for the game.”