Bijan Robinson says Falcons’ Stefanski gave speech ‘like Martin Luther King was in there’
After the Falcons’ 34-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 2, coach Kevin Stefanski rallied his team in the locker room and delivered a speech so moving, so resonating, his star player compared him to one of history’s best voices.
“He went right to the locker room, and I don’t know if he drunk some coffee or something, but this speech, it was like Martin Luther King was in there, man,” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said Thursday night on Amazon Prime’s postgame show. “I was like, ‘Yo, wait a minute.’”
Asked about the speech Friday, Stefanski declined to share specifics just over 12 hours removed from his team turning his message into a convincing 35-14 road win over the Green Bay Packers on “Thursday Night Football” at Lambeau Field.
But Robinson, to an extent, already did.
“He just brought all the players together and he was saying, like, ‘Are we going to let this loss define us? Is this who we’re going to be as a team? Or are we going to just change it right now and try to flip the switch immediately?’” Robinson recalled. “And that’s what we did.”
Stefanski said he’s proud of how the Falcons responded to his message, but there was a key difference between the content within his speech and the ones King gave during the Civil Rights Movement.
“I don’t think Dr. King used as many F-bombs as I did,” Stefanski said.
Robinson issued a follow-up comment through social media Friday morning.
“Yup I just saying stuff sometimes lol. Was a awesome speech for the team though,” Robinson said on X, adding the fire emoji.
The Falcons’ triumph over the Packers gave Stefanski his first win as the team’s coach. But the manner in which it came — on a short week, after the team’s worst loss in Mercedes-Benz Stadium history, and with proof his team listened to his wake-up call — matters just as much.
Stefanski’s postgame speech Thursday night was much more positive. He touted the team’s complementary efforts and applauded his players’ willingness to accept his fiery challenge after their blowout loss in Week 2.
And that, ultimately, gave Stefanski something to feel quite good about — even if Robinson’s comparison may have been a bit lofty.
“I’m very proud of the effort on a short week, and a lot of the results you see on a night like this really happen on Monday and they happen on Tuesday,” Stefanski said. “I know what this football team is made of. I know how they approach their job and we’ll just focus and keep our head down and worry about what’s in front of us.”