Falcons’ German super fan elated to ‘host’ a home game

BERLIN — Alexandros Swoch, a native of Berlin, has been a Falcons’ fans since the 1990s.

When the Falcons (3-5) play the Colts (7-2) at historic Olympic Stadium, he will not have to make an international road trip to see his favorite team.

Once he heard the Falcons had the international rights to Germany via the league’s global marketing program, he was almost certain that he would have a “home game” in his future.

The owner of 15 signed Falcons jerseys had to watch as Frankfurt hosted two games in 2023 and Munich hosted a game in 2024 as part of the NFL’s International Series.

“I knew they could have my team coming to my city,” Swoch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “This may surpass that milestone of the draft as somehow the founder of the fan club and then welcome the team in my city. It’s big. It’s huge. It’s a big over break. I can’t even describe it. It’s fantastic.”

He is known as “Alesantoz” by his large following, which is excited about the game.

“Now all of the fan club members, the German speaking fans are floating,” Swoch said. “They are coming out to the city.”

Swoch became a fan of the Falcons back in the 1990s.

“Jamal Anderson was my player to go then,” Swoch said about starting to follow the team in 1995. “The logo was nice. The colors. I like the colors and the Dirty Bird dance. I was all aboard.”

The Falcons hadn’t even been to a Super Bowl yet in 1995.

“I saw 32 different teams,” Swoch said. “I saw the Falcons and I saw Jamal Anderson with this dance and I was like this team, this player, this city, maybe has Swag. So, I go. … I had no relationship with the United States. Nothing. I had never been there before. I had no influences there. Nothing. I started watching football and the Falcons were the first team for me.”

Swoch announced the draft selection of Brandon Dorlus in the fourth round of the NFL draft in Detroit in 2024 and was named the Falcons’ first International Fan of the Year.

“Goose bumps,” Swoch said, while grabbing his left arm in the downtown hotel. “Everyone who ask me, I tell them that I had goose bumps. How can you imagine 30 years ago to be a Falcons fan. Build also a fan club. But going to the draft, all of the hype before. … then stepping to the microphone with 250,000 people there (in Detroit), speaking in a language this is not your native language. You are trembling like this. You try to be as correct as possible and not sound like an idiot.”

He pulled it off and enjoyed that experience.

“I got backstage after the announcement,” Swoch said. “I wanted to go out there and go make the next pick, too.”

The Falcons did a big feature on Swoch after he won the International Fan of the Year award in 2024.

“I had the big honor to become the very, very first international fan for the Atlanta Falcons,” Swoch said. “So, now I’m connected in the history books with the team.”

Swoch played soccer in his youth and participated in martial arts. He found his way to flag football at age 21.

“I liked it and started coaching for flag football,” Swoch said. “Becoming champion in 2004, German champion. So, that was starting my love and all of the passion with football.”

He had help to organize Falcons fans in the DACH region — Deutschland (Germany), Austria and Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for Switzerland.

There was an organized Facebook group in 2013, and he started participating in 2017. It was a private group of about 150 to 200 fans.

“One day in the ’17 or ’18, I asked myself, how can I collect all of these disparate fans around Germany, around German-speaking area because we have Switzerland and Austria also where they speak German. Then I started to build the community more to express more outside of the Facebook group,” Swoch said. “I started a website. I started writing articles about the history side of the team.”

He did his own research on the team.

“I (did) it for myself,” Swoch said. “If someone likes this, what I put on the internet, then it’s fine. So, it was not the first goal to be bigger and bigger. I wanted to make it research about the team, about the Ring of Honor. About the ’66 beginning.”

He started writing blogs and added other social media platforms. The group also now has a podcast on YouTube.

“We always go live on Tuesday, analyzing and talking about the game from Sunday,” Swoch said. “That’s how (we built) the fan club from the last seven to eight years, step by step.”

Swoch has been to two games this season. He attended the Bills game in Atlanta and traveled to San Francisco.

“That’s always my goal to always to have at least one game in the Benz,” Swoch said. “To meet all of the friends there and get the tailgating and everything, to see more from this big country. I went to Charlotte. I went to New York/New Jersey when they were playing the Jets.”

Swoch has a physical therapy practice and has his memorabilia throughout his office.

With members as far away as Norway and Iceland, it’s normally hard to get the fan club members together for games. They normally meet through technology.

“Together we have voice channel,” Swoch said. “Everyone goes into the voice channel, and we are watching the games separately and then talking into the voice channel.”

There were scheduled to have a meet and greet on the west side of Berlin on Friday. Several fans planned to participate in the Falcons’ team events Saturday and walk into the stadium together Sunday.

“All of the international fans will come,” Swoch said. “All of the Dirty Bird Nest will come. We have fans from Iceland, (United Kingdom), Scotland, Spain. They will all join us (Friday) there to meet before the big program on Saturday.”

Falcons running back Bijan Robinson flew over to Germany in May to meet some of the Falcons. He met Swoch.

“It was awesome,” Robinson said Friday after practice. “They sung a song about me. I don’t remember how it goes, but I met the Falcons fan of the year. He was so excited and I was, too.”

Robinson is hoping to feel the vibes of the German fans in the game.

“Kind of getting to meet them to see, when I walked in there they were so happy,” Robinson said. “I can’t wait to see how they bring it. I hope they invited everybody in Berlin to be at the game with a Falcons jersey on.”

Falcons safety Jessie Bates III is looking forward to seeing the Falcons fans in Germany.

“We are normal people as well,” Bates said. “To see some of these families this morning driving over here, people are taking their kids to school. Getting up and getting ready for work, normal human beings. We probably have a lot more in common than they think. Just continue to open your eyes.”

Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was surprised by the weather.