Sports Daily: The Falcons’ next Hall of Famer?

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Quick links: Weekend reflections | Riley to the IL | Class 6A All-State team

GREAT JOB EVERYBODY

Credit: George Walker IV/AP

A baseball fans gives the all clear sign before the Speedway Classic in Bristol, Tennessee (Sunday's version).

Let me get this straight.

I go out of town for a week … and all of these delicious little morsels of Atlanta sports news pop out of the oven?

✅ The Braves lose the last remaining starter from their opening day rotation, Ronald Acuña Jr hits the shelf, Marcell Ozuna *doesn’t* get traded, Michael Harris II starts hitting again — and then they win a game at a NASCAR track (after it was suspended by rain the night before, leaving fans frustrated and hungry)?

• Oh, and Austin Riley’s hurt again.

✅ The Dream win four out of five games, and the only one they lost was interrupted by a sex toy thrown onto the court?

• Side note: Don’t do this. The WNBA says police arrested whoever threw it and future offenders will be banned.

✅ Buford High School (high school!) officially unveils a $62 million stadium?

✅ Augusta University’s golf teams join the West Coast Conference?

✅ Atlanta United still stinks, but the manager’s getting red cards now?

✅ Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney hurts his shoulder, rookie pass rusher James Pearce keeps scuffling with teammates, Jalon Walker missed several practices (he’s back today) — and our boy Ken Sugiura starts wondering if Kirk Cousins really is better than Michael Penix Jr.?

What a funny little sports town we’ve got.

Wouldn’t trade it for any other in the world … but I think I need another vacation.

HALL-OF-FAME ABE

Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC file photo

Drew Brees, meet John Abraham.

Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter was in Canton, Ohio, over the weekend to take in Sterling Sharpe’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sharpe, the Packers great born and raised in South Georgia, delivered a lovely speech.

But it was another piece — another question — from Mr. Ledbetter that got me thinking.

🤔 Will former Falcon John Abraham get a gold jacket soon?

The idea seems to be gaining momentum. Abraham’s 133.5 career sacks sit 18th all-time. (For context: Sacks weren’t an official stat until 1982, but former Falcon Claude Humphrey, a Hall of Famer, racked up 130.)

“Now, the older I get, the more rational it looks,” Abraham told D-Led. “Now, when I was younger, I was like, ‘Nah, I probably don’t deserve it. I don’t have this many numbers.’”

🤔 Secondary question: NFL players don’t technically represent a team when they get the call to the hall — but would Atlanta have the strongest claim to Abraham if he gets in? He played seven seasons here after six with the Jets.

I vote yes, on all accounts.

(And you should sign up for the Dirty Birds Dispatch, our new weekly newsletter that debuts on Thursday, too.)

GET PREPPED FOR PREP FOOTBALL

Y’all. We’re like nine days away from the inaugural game of this year’s Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic — and the official start of high school football season.

The AJC will unveil its prestigious Super 11 squad this Thursday, so stay tuned to ajc.com/high-school-sports for that.

😮 In the meantime: A daily rundown of each classification! Today we’re diving into the big boys in Class 6A with ...

• A preseason all-state team (well done, Douglas County).
• A check-in with the defending champs from Grayson.
• And a look at the class’ new longest tenured coach.

We also have bonus stories ranking the state’s top 10 running backs and touching base with three Oconee County brothers all suiting up for the same college squad.

Much more to come.

SUMMER OF SOCCER

Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC

Youngsters enjoyed pre-Premier League festivities, too.

Remember when there were like nine people at Atlanta’s first Club World Cup match and some folks freaked out? Well … as Doug Roberson reports, our fair city’s first “Summer of Soccer” actually played out pretty darn well.

No major complaints from all that Club World Cup action or the English Premier League matchups that concluded Sunday. (They’re working on the grass, but it wasn’t too bad.)

Now it’s on to next summer’s World Cup, which will feature … new uniforms for the Atlanta Police Department. Among other things.

🔗 Bonus link: United signs a new midfielder

ALSO INTERESTING

🗳️ Derek Dooley, the former Tennessee football coach, officially joined the race for one of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats. He’s using his coaching career as a selling point, which I’m trying pretty hard not to make a joke about.

🐝 Georgia Tech football welcomed fans to the Flats over the weekend. And the Jackets are embracing their newly elevated expectations, too.

🥒 Pickleball? In Atlanta? These ladies rule the roost.

WEEKEND WONDERPERSON

Credit: George Walker IV/AP

Outfielder Eli White holds the hardware after helping fuel a Braves win at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Hit two home runs in a meaningless early August baseball game trigger celebration laps from a race car and take home an absurd trophy? Yeah, you’ve got to be Sports Daily’s Weekend Wonderperson.

Eli White’s Sunday afternoon homers are the only ones ever hit during Major League action in the state of Tennessee. (At least until an expansion team called the Nashville Bachelorettes or whatever joins the party.)