Big Ben Right.
For Falcons fans, it was perhaps the greatest play in franchise history.
For receiver Wallace Francis, it was not only a play conceived the day before the game, but the “craziest play I have ever seen drawn up.’’
The play came Nov. 12, 1978, when trailing 17-13 to the Saints in the Superdome, the Falcons lined up at their own 43-yard line.
They had one final play.
Francis lined up to the right, between Alfred Jackson and Alfred Jenkins. Quarterback Steve Bartkowski launched the ball deep down the right sideline, and as designed, Francis tipped it and it fell into the hands of Jackson, who ran the final 10 yards for the touchdown.
The win propelled the Falcons into the playoffs.
“We had just practiced that play for the first time the day before,’’ Francis said. “I’ll never forget it.’’
Long before the days of Roddy White and Julio Jones, Francis was one of the Falcons’ top receivers.
He was born in Franklin, La., and went to Franklin Park Avenue High School, where he was both a receiver and running back. Francis wanted to play at Grambling, but the Tigers and coach Eddie Robinson weren’t interested, so he followed his brother, Harold, to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The Buffalo Bills took Francis in the fifth round of the 1973 NFL Draft.
During his rookie season, in which O.J. Simpson became the first running back to rush for more than 2,000 yards, Francis returned kickoffs, including two for touchdowns.
After another year on special teams, he was traded to the Falcons, where he slowly began to break into the lineup.
In 1978, he caught 45 passes for 695 yards and a dramatic touchdown pass against the Eagles in the first NFC Wild Card game to lift the Falcons to their first playoff win.
He came back the following season with a career-high 74 receptions for 1,013 yards and eight touchdowns.
In his final two seasons in the NFL, he caught 54 and 30 passes as well as a team-high six passes in the crushing January 1981 playoff loss to Dallas, when the Cowboys scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 30-27.
Francis felt he could play longer, but retired to go into the ministry.
He finished with 244 receptions, 3,695 yards and 27 touchdowns in nine seasons.
Where he lives: Francis, 65, lives in Douglasville and has been married to Cheryl for 36 years. He has five children, sons Ray, Micah and Mathew, and daughters Britney and Carmen. He has eight grandchildren.
What he does now: He has traveled all over the world and is the national director for Ambassadors for Christ International USA. He also is learning how to play golf, recently receiving a bag of clubs from Bartkowski. Said Francis: "I'm so good, I say fore before I hit the ball … ."
On playing with Simpson: "He was the hub of the team. He really brought high expectations to the Bills and they brought in Jim Ringo from Green Bay, who was a great center for the Packers, as the offensive line coach, and he brought a good blocking concept, which really worked. O.J. was a great player and the fans there loved him. I remember O.J. going over 1,000 yards in the first seven games and wondering just how many he would run for.''
On coming to the Falcons: "I came over at the right time because they had just drafted Steve Bartkowski. But the problem at the beginning was our two best blockers were our center (Jeff Van Note) and tight end (Jim Mitchell), so he ended up running for his life for a while. Also, we had this 1950s and '60s passing system. But that changed when Leeman Bennett came in (1978), and he really brought in some talent up front.''
On Bartkowski: "He had an incredible arm and could make any pass. I think a lot of people wonder just what he could have been if he would have been protected by the line and not had those injuries. A super person as well.''
On how Big Ben was designed: "I think it was our receivers coach Ted Plumb who came up with it, and Minnesota had just won a big game by doing something similar. They put me in the middle and Alfred Jackson to my left and Alfred Jenkins to my right. My goal was to go up for the catch, but if I couldn't get it, to tap it back to one of the other guys. I made a play on the ball and so did all the Saints' defensive backs, and I just kept it alive and Jackson caught it and went in. A lot of people don't realize that while Billy "White Shoes'' Johnson caught another Big Ben a few years later, we actually tried it again in '78 when we played New Orleans a few weeks later. It wasn't as long a pass, but ended up being a pass interference on New Orleans, and Bart then hit Jim (Mitchell) on the next play and we won again 20-17.''
On his career year in 1979: "Leeman had a lot to do with that as well as backup quarterback June Jones. who brought a lot of new ideas to the team. I also think that year they gave Bart a lot more liberty to do what he wanted in the passing game.''
On the loss to the Cowboys in the 1980 playoffs: "I don't want to get into it because I have some strong feelings about what happened there at the end, but I really thought we were a Super Bowl team that year.''
On returning to Falcons games with other alumni: "The thrill of playing in the NFL is the relationships you build and the joy of going back and having fellowship with former players. I am lucky because I live in Atlanta and see a lot of my former teammates, but that really has been the highlight of my playing experience.''
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