When Calvin Ridley plays his first home game for the Falcons, it will be his sixth football game in Atlanta.
The former Alabama wide receiver, selected by the Falcons with the 26th pick of the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night, played here five times during his college career – three times at the Georgia Dome and twice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
And his team won all five of those high-stakes games:
> 2015 SEC Championship game: Alabama trailed Florida 7-5 late in the second quarter in the Georgia Dome when Ridley, then a freshman, caught a 55-yard pass at the Florida 3-yard line. That set up a Derrick Henry touchdown that gave the Crimson Tide the lead for good. Ridley finished the game with eight catches for 102 yards. Alabama won 29-15.
> 2016 SEC Championship game: As Alabama again beat Florida at the Dome, this time by a 54-16 score, Ridley caught four passes for 43 yards.
> 2016 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: Alabama defeated Washington 24-7 in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Dome. The Crimson Tide didn't pass much in the game, completing seven of 14 for just 57 yards, including one catch by Ridley for six yards.
> 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff game: Ridley caught seven passes for 82 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown in the second quarter, as Alabama opened the season with a 24-7 win over Florida State in the first college football game played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Ridley's touchdown erased a 7-3 FSU lead and put the Crimson Tide ahead for good.
Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ
Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ
> 2017-18 College Football Playoff championship game: With Georgia leading 20-13 on Jan. 8 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Ridley caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with 3:56 remaining in regulation. That tied the score 20-20 and forced overtime, where Alabama defeated the Bulldogs (and Ridley's younger brother Riley) 26-23. Alabama's Ridley caught four passes for 32 yards in his final college game, unknowingly playing in his future NFL home stadium.
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TODAY’S LEADOFF LINKS
> The Falcons passed on their biggest need but got the best player on the board in Ridley, Jeff Schultz writes. Read his column here.
> Former Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith was drafted by the Chicago Bears with the eighth pick of the first round. See Chip Towers' report on DawgNation here.
> Ronald Acuna's arrival has stirred enthusiasm among Braves fans, as evidenced by the local TV ratings for his first game Wednesday night. Fox Sports Southeast's telecast of Acuna's debut at Cincinnati posted a 3.24 rating in the Atlanta TV market -- up 33 percent from an average of 2.43 for all previous Braves games this season. See full story here.
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