The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find it informative, insightful and fun.
‘Kirk Frost’ ready to show off his swag
You’ve seen the GIFs of Kirk Cousins dancing, wearing gold chains and just flossing on the internet.
The Falcons even gave him and his sons Dirty Bird chains to wear after he signed his contract Wednesday.
Cousins plans to continue showing off his swag.
“Let’s hope,” Cousins said. “You’ve got to win. Chains aren’t very fun when you’re losing. So, you got to win football games, but if you win football games, I expect the city to see the fullness of my personality. The full force of my personality when we win.”
Cousins believes showing his personality is good for locker room camaraderie.
“The teams I played on will feed off that,” Cousins said. “It will be great energy, but you got to win to do that. You don’t just force that without earning it on the field.”
Quavo, a rapper and former lead of the Migos, nicknamed Cousins “Kirk Frost” in a welcome to Atlanta video on TikTok. He reposted the GIF of Cousins with all of the chains partying in the locker room.
“I love the nickname,” Cousins said. “(It’s) coming from Quavo. I love it. I’ll roll with whatever, whatever the locker room wants. So, I’m going to lean into it. Have fun, and we’ve got to win football games.”
With Cousins, Falcons are relevant again
When the NFL schedule was released last May, the Falcons were one of four teams without a nationally televised game. The Cardinals, Colts and Texans also were shut out.
The signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins has made the Falcons, who have six consecutive losing seasons, relevant again on the national landscape.
Cousins has been the most talked about player who has changed teams during free agency. As of Wednesday, there were 150,000 X (formerly known as Twitter) posts about him over the previous three days, which ranked Cousins No. 1 as the most talked about signing or trade, according to The Sports Geek.
Quarterback Russell Wilson, who agreed with the Steelers, was second with 109,000.
Linebacker Patrick Queen (92,000), running back Derrick Henry (91,000), running back Aaron Jones (86,000) rounded out the top five most-tweeted about players.
When the 2024 schedule comes out, the league will have a few options for the Falcons to have nationally television games.
They are set to play at the Vikings, and Cousins’ return to the city will create a major buzz.
The Falcons also play at Washington and against their former coach Dan Quinn (2015-20). Also, the Falcons will host Wilson and the Steelers’ new offensive coordinator, former Falcons coach Arthur Smith (2021-23).
Here are the Falcons’ opponents for 2024:
The home games: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Dallas, New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City, Seattle and Pittsburgh.
The away games: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Carolina, Philadelphia, Washington, Las Vegas, Denver and Minnesota.
Braves’ Michael Harris II more comfortable
Braves outfielder Michael Harris II has excelled since he was a rookie, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t become significantly more comfortable over the past couple of years. Harris is having an excellent spring, hitting over .300, and seems primed for a big 2024.
“(He’s) a lot more (comfortable than his rookie year),” hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said. “The at-bats have been phenomenal pretty much from the get-go when we started playing games. He comes in, does his work, he’s in a very good place mentally and emotionally, too, which can also lead to some nice at-bats going with it.”
Dynamic Dodgers
The Dodgers had one of the more dynamic offseasons in baseball history, acquiring star talents Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Tesocar Hernandez, among others. The Dodgers spent over $1 billion on their roster.
So perhaps first baseman Freddie Freeman, who saw the Braves remake their outfield at the 2021 trade deadline en route to a championship, has now been part of the best trade deadline and best offseason ever (the latter is yet to be determined).
“I would say so,” Freeman said. “The trade deadline in ‘21 was pretty good. This offseason was pretty cool. To (have) a front office and ownership that just wants to go out there and do everything (is great).”
Freer on scholarship
On Wednesday, Georgia Tech coach Brent Key awarded a scholarship to one of his team’s more vital players.
Henry Freer, a senior long snapper and graduate of Woodward Academy, learned after Tech’s second practice of the spring that he would be on scholarship for the 2024 season. Freer (6-foot, 205) played on 99 special-teams snaps in 2023, all coming on extra-point and field-goal tries. He has seen the field for 214 plays over the past three seasons and was eligible to enter the NFL draft, but decided to return to Tech for one more season.
Freer is pursuing a doctorate in Tech’s school of chemical and biomolecular engineering. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering in May and, according to the school, is believed to be the first active member of Tech’s football program enrolled in a doctorate program.
A three-time member of the ACC academic honor roll, Freer played football and baseball at Woodward Academy before enrolling at Tech in 2019.
Georgia ‘welcomes’ Trevor Etienne
Smael Mondon couldn’t resist. Upon meeting Trevor Etienne for the first time, he had a question for the transfer running back from Florida.
“The first thing I said to him was, ‘why’d y’all try to do that?’” Mondon said to the laughter of reporters at Georgia spring football media day Tuesday.
For some context, Etienne was the Gators’ featured back last year when Georgia and Florida met in their annual rivalry game in Jacksonville. The Gators were trailing 10-7 as they faced fourth down and a half-yard to go just outside Georgia’s 25-yard line.
On a trick play, Etienne fielded the ball on a direct snap in the backfield. Obviously, the plan was for him to throw the ball on the play, but Mondon had it sniffed out. He tackled Etienne for a 4-yard loss.
Georgia took over on downs and that ended up being a critical momentum turn in what ended as another victory for the Bulldogs, 43-20.
For the record, Etienne didn’t have an answer for Mondon. But the Georgia linebacker and the rest of the Bulldogs are extremely happy to have Etienne wearing their uniform this season.
“He’s a really good back, really explosive, and he fits right in with us,” Mondon said.
UGA’s Morales Williams wins gold
Christopher Morales Williams didn’t set a world record this time, but the Georgia sophomore wasn’t complaining when he left Boston last week as an NCAA champion.
The Ontario native won the 400-meter run with a time of 44.67 seconds at the indoor national championship. That’s a couple of tenths behind the world-best time Morales Williams clocked at the SEC Championships the previous week, but he wasn’t complaining.
“It felt good; it felt the same,” Morales Williams told reporters in Boston. “Literally, I was more tired for this one. Overall, it feels like I can do it consistently and be this strong for outdoors, which also would be amazing.”
Morales Williams captured worldwide attention when he clocked 44.49 at the SEC meet in Fayetteville, Ark., the weekend before. Ultimately, the IAAF wouldn’t recognize the time as the world record because they used standard starting blocks at the meet. But Morales Williams and the rest of the track community acknowledged the accomplishment, and he was named the NCAA’s National Runner of the Year for the indoor season.
Still, the 44.67 was the fifth-fastest in collegiate history and the second-best time of Morales Williams’ career. It was the second consecutive year that Georgia took gold in the 400 and third all time. Elija Godwin won the race last year and Torrin Lawrence won it in 2010.
Bulldog sophomore sprinter Christopher Morales Williams ran the fifth-fastest collegiate time in history to capture his first 400-meter dash title on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships at The Track at New Balance in Boston Saturday.
In the team standings, Georgia’s men’s team finished 15th and the women were third at the indoor championships. Eight Bulldogs came home as All-Americans.
Cousins helped to recruit Mooney
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins stepped to help the team recruit former Chicago wide receiver Darnell Mooney.
“Pretty passive,” Cousins said. “Let them (the front office) do their job. But they said, ‘Hey, we’re close.’ I said, ‘Well, let me let me call him.’ This guy is the real deal.”
Cousins was familiar with Mooney’s work since they both played in the NFC North.
“I saw him twice a year in Minnesota, in the division,” Cousins said. “Thrilled to have him.”
Cousins found out Mooney was on the same page.
“It’s all about winning,” Cousins said. “Winning is what it’s all about. That really informs so many decisions. Even in recruiting Darnell Mooney to come here. His answer was, ‘I just want to win.’ I said well, ‘we’re on the same page.’ That’s really where the focus lies. You’ve got to go prove it in the fall. But you certainly believe that there’s the pieces are here that you can do that.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Atlanta United
Credit: Photo courtesy of Atlanta United
Atlanta United grillmasters
Xande Silva and Tristan Muyumba have taken over as Atlanta United’s grillmasters.
Twice in the past three weeks, Silva and Muyumba have unofficially hosted an asado for the team.
Silva said they grilled chicken and piquillo peppers, among other items Tuesday.
They join a lineage that includes former player Leandro Gonzalez Pirez, who frequently would host asados at his home for teammates.
For the record, Dax McCarty uses a gas grill.
-Staff writers Gabriel Burns, Chad Bishop, Chip Towers, Doug Roberson and D. Orlando Ledbetter contributed to this report.
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