Back in March, Falcons cornerback Robert Alford was going through an offseason workout in Baton Rouge, La.
Former NFLer Ryan Clark was putting Alford through some training when Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre dropped by Sports Traction Performance on a business matter.
Favre, dressed in street clothes, was interviewing with a few companies around the facility.
“We just asked him if he wanted to come and throw a couple of passes,” Alford said. “At first, he said no. He denied it, but eventually we asked him again and he came over and threw a couple of passes to us.”
There’s social media video of Favre, at 45, ripping off some darts to Alford.
“It was good to catch passes from him,” Alford said. “He’s always been known as a gunslinger. Once I caught one or two passes, I understood why they still call him that.
“It was nice just to be able to catch balls from a Hall of Famer like Brett Favre. He was someone that I always looked up to growing up. I was just a good idea for us.”
Alford, who’s from Hammond and played at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, loves to return home to face the Saints.
He hopes his offseason work with Favre will help him against Drew Brees and the Saints with a playoff berth on the line at 1 p.m. Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“I get to play in front of my family,” Alford said. “I get to play in front people from the college that I went to. It’s right there in my home state. Some of my coaches and my high school coaches will be watching. Every time that I go down there, I try to play good so when I go back home they can’t say too much to me.”
Alford knows that he’s getting some action. Teams tend to come his way and that’s why he’s fourth on the team in tackles with 62 and leads the team in pass breakups with 16. He also has three special team tackles.
“Just staying on top of my task, even when I’m not getting any balls,” Alford said. “Just to be on top of my technique. That’s something that I always ask my coaches, to always be hard on me. Grade me hard because that’s the only thing that is going to make me a better player.
“Being graded hard and having that hard-nosed coach that’s going to be on my tail each and every down.”
Defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel keeps preaching to Alford about his techniques.
“I challenged him from the standpoint of how discipline can you be,” Manuel said. “When (Desmond) Trufant didn’t play and we had guys down against Minnesota, I thought it was one of his better games all year.”
Alford does lead the team in penalties with seven -- offensive holding, four defensive holdings and two pass interferences -- that have led to six first downs. Right guard Wes Schweitzer is second with six penalties.
“He has battled,” Manuel said. “You are asking him to be more detailed. He has what we call run-and-hit ability. He’s tough enough to do what he needs to do down-in and down-out.”
He had a penalty against Tampa Bay, that actually was a good one, according to free safety Ricardo Allen. Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans put a double-move on Alford, who jumped the route. But he had the speed to get back to Evans and hold him to stop a touchdown.
The foul also wiped out Allen’s interception.
“He has to continue to keep his poise which is awesome,” Manuel said. “That part, I think, with his game, he gets into his zone.”
Alford doesn’t have any interceptions this season. The Falcons would like for him to have turned some of those 16 breakups into interceptions.
“He is a ball guy,” Manuel said. “That’s a thing a lot of people don’t talk about with him. The fact that he has numerous returns for touchdowns off interceptions and the ability to take the ball out of people’s hands and (pass breakups).”
Alford has nine career interceptions and return one for a touchdown in the Super Bowl last season.
“That’s just something that I always try to do, once I get the ball in my hands, I try to score with it,” Alford said. “I have to try to get us a touchdown up on the defensive side. I haven’t been able to come up with any turnovers this year, but this year is not over.
“We still have two more games and probably the playoffs. That’s something that I’m trying to get, more of. Just get my hands on the ball.”
Alford is expecting seven family members to attend the game. The rest will watch on television back in Hammond.
He knows the Saints are steaming hot after losing 20-17 to the Falcons on Dec. 7.
“They have a great receiving corps,” Alford said. “They have a great quarterback in Drew Brees. When you have a quarterback like that, he can do a lot of things with the receivers that he has.
“You can tell that they are on the same page.”
Alford said he’s ready for this homecoming.
“It falls back to just being discipline and communicating,” Alford said. “Everything that we stressed this week.”
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