FLOWERY BRANCH -- Former longtime NFL assistant coach George Stewart thought he’d have time for fishing on Lake Hartwell when he retired after 32 years in the league in January.

But the league office offered him a job as the NFL’s coaching coordinator of officials, a position set up to try to help the officials understand the intricacies of coaching in the NFL.

“I thought I was ready to relax,” said Stewart, who was at the Falcons’ practice Friday.

Stewart, 62, was the Falcons’ wide receivers coach under Jim Mora from 2004-07.

Stewart started coaching in the league with the Steelers in 1989. After three seasons with the Steelers, Stewart went on to coach with Tampa Bay (1992-95), San Francisco (1996-2003), the Falcons, Minnesota (2008-16) and the Chargers (2017-20).

In addition to Roddy White, Stewart also coached wide receivers such as Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Percy Harvin.

However, early in his NFL career, Stewart served as a special-teams coordinator from 1996-99 for the San Francisco 49ers.

Stewart also worked as a special-teams coach for Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1989-91.

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