DEL.ICIO.USFalcons rookie Douglas has breakout game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, November 23, 2008
What got into Harry Douglas?
The Falcons rookie receiver and punt returner came out of his skin Sunday afternoon against Carolina. He scored the first touchdown of his career on a 7-yard reverse, gave the ball to his mother, and scored another one on a 61-yard punt return, to give to his father.
Pouya Dianat/pdianat@ajc.com
Falcons rookie Harry Douglas scored the first two touchdowns of his career — the second on a 61-yard punt return — against the Panthers on Sunday.
Stephanie and Harry Douglas III of Jonesboro walked down five steps in the stands behind the Falcons bench to get their matching souvenirs.
In between collecting balls, Douglas turned a third-and-11, get-a-first-down catch into a 69-yard dagger that got the Falcons to the Carolina 6-yard line. That set up the fourth-and-goal touchdown by Michael Turner for a 10-point lead that defined the Falcons’ 45-28 win.
So what was it that got up under Douglas’ skin? Carolina.
The last time these two teams met on Sept. 28 in Charlotte was one of the few times one of the highly touted Falcons rookies actually looked like a rookie. Douglas dropped two third-down passes in that game.
They were fresh on his mind Sunday. He’d watched film of it Sunday morning.
“The first game we had at Carolina was probably the worst game I’ve had in my career ever, playing,” said Douglas, a third-round draft pick out of Louisville. “I watched a couple plays in that game, saw how poorly I played. I wanted to come out here today and show everybody what I can do.
“[We were] watching film of third downs, those two came up. That put a reminder in my head: go hard every play. Expect the ball.”
He can expect it more from now on. Douglas touched it a career-high six times on offense — two runs and four catches — and turned those into 95 yards. In his fourth game since taking over for Adam Jennings at punt return, Douglas burned up 93 yards.
If his pass play set up the definitive touchdown, his punt return for a touchdown gave the Falcons a chance to soak it all up. It was only the 10th time in history a Falcon returned a punt for a touchdown and first since Allen Rossum’s 75-yarder against Kansas City in 2004.
It was a “beautiful” return to his coach Mike Smith.
Here’s how it looked (and felt) from inside Douglas’ helmet.
“It was actually kicked over my head, so I had to go back and get it,” Douglas said. “I started going like 25 miles an hour to my left. I was going real slow to set my blocks up. Punt return team did a great job blocking.
“I wanted them to think I was going power to the outside, once I saw the crease inside, I cut it back up.”
Carolina’s punter Jason Baker had gotten Douglas once, pushing him out of bounds on a 27-yard punt return in the first quarter, but Baker couldn’t touch him this time.
Douglas drew a penalty for pointing at Baker, but the damage was done, and he was off through the end zone and jumping into the stands for a fan hug.
One of the first people he ran into coming off the field after the game was an old high school teammate at Jonesboro who works airport security for the NFL teams traveling on game day.
“He always remembers where he came from,” said Kelvin Sharpe, standing just outside the barricade in the tunnel outside the Falcons locker room. “I’m so proud of him.”
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