Atlanta fans, both diehard and casual alike, gathered at McCray’s Tavern in Smyrna to cheer on the hometown Falcons in the NFC Championship game against the Packers.
The tavern quickly started to fill up around 90 minutes before 3:05 kickoff. Eric Cox, the bar manager at McCray’s, said the tavern can hold a up to 250 people and expects it to reach full capacity as it did during Falcons’ win over Seattle.
Scott and Kelsey Sears of Smyrna are regulars at McCray’s. Scott said he still remembers a Super Bowl party his parents threw during the Falcons’ first and only Super Bowl appearance back in 1998.
The Sears have been up since 7 a.m. to prepare for today’s game and are anxious to see how the Falcons compete.
“Energy is really high right now and can only imagine chance it will get higher going into Super Bowl,” Scott said.”
Kelsey said it seems to be the life of Atlanta sports fan to make it this far without winning the title and hopes it changes soon.
“For me with the new infrastructure with Mercedes-Benz and SunTrust Park, we really got to get our teams to win to support it.”
Sitting down the bar from the Sears, Brett Beattie said he wouldn’t call himself a huge Falcons fan, but as an Atlanta native he appreciates what the team does for the area.
“It gets the city energize, kind of like how the Hawks did with its good season last year. It’s something that pulls city together.”
Both Beattie and Scott Sears agree the key to Falcons’ game today would be how the Falcons’ defense contains Aaron Rodgers.
“It feels like it’ll come down to stopping Aaron Rodgers, who seems to work miracles,” Beattie said.
“Packers are really good and are the hottest, if not one of the hottest teams right now,” Scott said. “Hoping Rodgers’ luck is running out.”
