The Falcons: A History of Infamy

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons: A History of Infamy

Staff, file and wire photos chronicling the low moments in the history of the Atlanta Falcons.

The first home game: Julie Elliott, a schoolteacher credited with choosing the team nickname, poses with (from left) founding owner Rankin Smith, then-UGA football coach Vince Dooley and Jesse Outlar, the former sports editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Elliott wrote in the naming contest that " . . . the falcon is proud and dignified with great courage and fight."

Tommy Nobis, the franchise's first draft pick in 1966, had a stellar career but endured many losing seasons, including a 1-12-2 mark in 1967. "It's our worst record, I do remember that. You can tell I don't forget those kinds of things."

In the 1972 season finale, running back Dave Hampton entered Falcons lore by surpassing the 1,000-yard mark, but was sacked for a loss on the next play and finished with 995 yards.

The Falcons made Aundray Bruce the first pick in the 1988 NFL draft. But the former Auburn linebacking standout endured four undistinguished seasons with Atlanta and was charged with pointing a BB gun at a pizza delivery person. Bruce finished his career with the Raiders, starting only 42 games in all.

The second coming of Marion Campbell in 1987 -- he also had a 6-19 stint with the Falcons in the mid-70s -- led to one of the lowest moments in franchise history. He was fired 12 games into a disastrous 3-13 season in 1989.

"I can't remember all the details of our losing seasons," said linebacker Jesse Tuggle, later inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor. "It's like life. You try to forget a lot of the bad things."

To succeed Campbell, the Falcons bypassed two aspiring young coaches, Steve Spurrier and Bill Belichick, in favor of fired Oilers coach Jerry Glanville, who brought his Man-in-Black persona to town. Among his more infamous ploys: Commissioning the "California Championship Trophy" after posting a 6-0 mark against Golden State teams in 1991. Prior to the 1992 game against the 49ers, Glanville had it paraded along the sideline. That infuriated the 49ers, who proceeded to rout Atlanta 56-17.

"I know things are going to be better," said then-Falcons lineman Tim Green, who later became an NFL TV commentator and writer, "because they couldn't get any worse."

In 1992 the franchise made perhaps its signature blunder. Rookie Brett Favre was a handful off the field, as he has admitted, but after being shipped to Green Bay in 1992 he won the Packers a Super Bowl and embarked on a Hall of Fame career as the winningest QB in NFL history.

Former Falcon Deion Sanders nearly came to blows with Andre Rison when the 49ers visited the Georgia Dome in 1994. Sanders later returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown against his old team. "This is my house," said Sanders, who was cheered by thousands in the Georgia Dome after his score. "I built this house."

1996 was another season to forget. It lowlighted by the sideline row between coach June Jones and Jeff George after the quarterback was pulled during a loss to the Eagles. George was booed, but shrugged it off: "These fans have been booing for 20 years." George was released shortly thereafter, and Jones wasn't far behind him. He was fired after a 3-13 finish.

Two seasons later, the impossible happened. The Falcons punched a ticket to the first Super Bowl in team history after beating the Vikings, and Cornelius Bennett hoists the NFC Championship trophy to prove it.

But even that happy moment was besmirched the night before the Super Bowl when Falcons safety Eugene Robinson was arrested on for soliciting an undercover police officer for prostitution. Fans of the Denver Broncos, the Falcons opposition, couldn't resist the the game-day reminder.

Henri Crockett ignores the confetti not meant for him or the Falcons after the Broncos cruised to a 34-19 victory.

Three seasons after their Super Bowl year, the Falcons once again had the first pick in the NFL Draft. The took QB Michael Vick, who was touted as the fresh new face of a long-foundering franchise.

The following year, in 2002, former Home Depot executive Arthur Blank purchased the Falcons from the Smith family and made big promises, both on and off the field.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank pushes quarterback Mike Vick in a wheelchair after the quarterback's fibula injury that caused him to miss the first 11 games of the 2003 season.

But in the summer of 2007, as the Falcons had undergone another coaching change, Virginia authorities made a discovery that would bring down Vick and cause the most dramatic upheaval for a team long accustomed to disappointment.

Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges and is awaiting sentencing. He has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL and likely has played his last game as a Falcon.

Blank, who's tried to build a positive public relations image for his franchise, holds a press conference after Vick's guilty plea.

That didn't stop fans from taunting Vick in absentia during a preseason game in August as the Falcons entered another dark period.

Bobby Petrino and DeAngelo Hall channeled June Jones and Jeff George as the new coach has embarked on rocky terms with some of the Falcons veterans.

"From the outside looking in, this has a chance to be one of the brutal years of all time," said former Falcons QB David Archer, now a radio commentator for the team. "But it has nothing to do with those guys looking in. In has everything to do with what happens inside that locker room."

Said Jeff Van Note, who at 18 years had the longest tenure of any Falcon: "When you go through tough times, you still have the game itself. Most people want to be as good as they can at whatever it is they do. And if you do, you can't take the year off."

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The first home game: Julie Elliott, a schoolteacher credited with choosing the team nickname, poses with (from left) founding owner Rankin Smith, then-UGA football coach Vince Dooley and Jesse Outlar, the former sports editor of the Atlanta Constitution. Elliott wrote in the naming contest that " . . . the falcon is proud and dignified with great courage and fight."

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