HOUSTON – There is next to zero chance that the Falcons will ever forget that they are, you know, a brotherhood.
Team tattoos are no doubt forthcoming. Next comes Dan Quinn taking out 53 sets of adoption papers.
They are not even close to scraping that theme, especially now that they have an entirely new and far-flung audience. There are a lot of people out there in the United States who need to know that this is a special team with a familial bond.
But just in case any of the players might wonder how they stand in the new environment of the Super Bowl, all they need do is take a short walk out of their team hotel.
There, by I-10, is a billboard with the message “In Brotherhood We Rise,” topped by the Falcons logo. This team leaves nothing to chance.
Whether the team commissioned the billboard or not, Falcons tackle Ryan Schraeder was thankful for the effort. “We appreciate the support. It’s special.”
Plus, Schraeder said, “I’ve seen a lot of Falcons fans out here already and just to have fans travel halfway across the country shows how much it means to the city of Atlanta.”
The Falcons are staying out 20 minutes or so from the Houston city center – although identifying a center in the amorphous sprawl is not always easy. It’s relatively remote from the bustle of central Houston but certainly doesn’t guarantee that some members of the brotherhood couldn’t get into trouble if they tried. But it is important to remember that personal accountability is the foundation of the brotherhood.
They are doing their interviews this week in a converted ice rink in a mall across the street from their hotel. It would have been much more entertaining had they left the ice on the rink, but accepting the liability for several hundred ill-coordinated media types apparently was too much for the NFL.
But I digress.
Not sure what they call this area of Houston, and don’t really care to do the research. Just let it be known this week as Brotherhood Place.
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